First record of the exotic species platyfish Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) in an urban floodplain of a Brazilian neotropical river

Abstract

Aim This work reports the first occurrence of the exotic species Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) in the Sorocaba River Basin. The introduction of non-native fish species has become common and many species have been introduced mainly through sport fishing, aquaculture and aquarium keeping. In the case of the Poeciliidae, most of the introduced species that have been recorded come aquarium keeping. The environment where the specimens were captured had a large number of macrophytes due to anthropization and is located in a strictly urbanized area of the municipality. Methods The collection was done through a rectangular dip net, with measures of 70 cm x 60 cm and a mesh of 1 mm. The specimens were anesthetized in eugenol solution, fixed in 10% formalin solution and preserved in 70% alcohol. The specimens were later deposited in a scientific collection. Results The record includes two female specimens from an urban wetland on the Sorocaba River, São Paulo State, Brazil. Conclusions In the municipality of Sorocaba, 63 species of fish have already been identified, belonging to 7 orders and 19 families and 6 are exotic, such as the Xiphophorus maculatus. Urban floodplains are poorly studied environments, thus presenting great potential for the occurrence of species that have not yet been inventoried. The monitoring and inventory of exotic species must be carried out systematically so that mitigating measures can be proposed in relation to the control of these species, and this is one of the major causes of biodiversity loss. In addition, developing a program for returning unwanted fish to aquarium stores can be effective in preventing the introduction of new aquarium fish and displaying warnings informing of the negative ecological effects of releasing aquarium fish in all bags, fish plastics, and aquarium store websites.