Rapid expansion and biodiversity impacts of the red devil cichlid (Amphilophus labiatus, Günther 1864) in Lake Sentani, Papua, Indonesia

Abstract

Ohee HL, Sujarta P, Br Surbakti S, Barclay H. 2018. Rapid expansion and biodiversity impacts of the red devil cichlid (Amphilophus labiatus, Günther 1864) in Lake Sentani, Papua, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 2096-2103. The red devil cichlid (Amphilophus labiatus, Günther 1864) is one of ten exotic fish species inhabiting Lake Sentani. It is believed to be one of the most important threats to the native fish of Lake Sentani. This study aimed to document the distribution of red devil cichlids and the impacts of this species on native fish fauna. Fish were sampled in six locations in Lake Sentani using gill nets during February and March 2018. Fish species and abundance were recorded and used to calculate the relative abundance, dominance, species evenness, Shannon Wiener Index (H’) and the correlation between introduced and native fish species. A total of 836 fish belonging to 12 species were recorded across Lake Sentani. Mean fish diversity (H’=0.57) and evenness (E= 0.25) were low. The red devil cichlid is the most abundant fish recorded during our surveys (87.2% of total fish collected) and is now the most dominant fish in the lake (C=0.76). Moreover, it has colonized all areas sampled within the lake because of its ability to colonize new habitat and to successfully exploit a large diversity of trophic niches. However, Amphilophus labiatus was not found to be significantly correlated to native fish between different sites in Lake Sentani. The existence of endemic and native fish in Lake Sentani is now seriously threatened by the presence of the red devil cichlid throughout this lake.

Potential analysis of location, socio-culture and biodiversity as ecotourism attraction in Valentine Bay on Buano Island, West Seram, Maluku, Indonesia

“…According to (Rujehan and Matius 2018), land clearing and mining activities are also issues that often occur in Bukit Soeharto, East Kalimantan. Coastal threats may consist of overfishing, and similar threats are also reported in Lake Sentani due to overfishing (Ohee et al 2018), damage to mangroves (Radabaugh et al 2019) and coral reefs (Wijayanti et al 2018), declining quality of underwater parks, the threat of various species of marine life such as trade in endangered species, increased abrasion, widespread sedimentation, and intrusion of seawater. The coastal ecosystem faces serious threats of pollution, overexploitation, conflicting use of resources, damage, and destruction of habitats (Kumar et al 2017).…”

Ichthyofauna of Fakfak, Papua – Indonesia

“…However, it was reported an introduced species, Oreochromis mossambicus, of Bomberay River, 63 km of Ubadari Village [23]. Introduced species could spread quickly to other natural water and streams and threaten native species [24][25][26], where one of them is Lake Sentani.…”

A checklist of native freshwater fish from Brantas River, East Java, Indonesia

“…East Java is also the center of aquaculture and aquarium trade in Indonesia, there is a high likelihood of the introduction of non-native species through this pathway (Fadjar et al 2019;Hasan et al 2020aHasan et al , 2020b. Non-native species introductions as a result of the aquarium trade have occurred exponentially in the last five decades, causing disruption to the native species communities across the trophic network (Ohee et al 2018;Hasan et al 2020c;Insani et al 2020). Non-native species cause a negative ecological impact on native species directly through predation and indirectly through competition for resources and niches (Hasan and Tamam 2019;Hasan et al 2019a;Hasan et al 2019b;Olden et al 2022).…”