Use of the neotropical fish Cnesterodon decemmaculatus for long-term control of Culex pipiens L. in Argentina

Abstract

We released the native mosquito fish, Cnesterodon decemmaculatus, into suburban drainage ditches to evaluate its potential as a long-acting agent for the control of Culex pipiens larvae in natural breeding sites. The inoculation of predatory fish was conducted in 9 ditches at three densities: 1, 7, and 13 fish/m 2 during a 2-year period (2006)(2007)(2008).The number of immature stages of Cx. pipiens was recorded before and after release. On a monthly basis, the digestive-tract contents of some fish and the average number of offspring from the females was recorded. Fifteen weeks after release, a 99% reduction in the number of immature mosquito stages was recorded in the drainage ditches containing 13 fish/m 2 , while at 22 weeks, a 99% reduction was also observed in those with 7 fish/m 2 . The ditches with 1 fish/m 2 had lower densities of immature mosquito stages relative to the controls, but over the entire experiment these observations did not prove statistically significant. The number of offspring per adult C. decemmaculatus female ranged from 4 ± 1.4 (mean ± SD) to 7.4 ± 0.9. Larval remains were detected in the

Assessment of the predatory capacity on mosquito larvae of Jenynsia multidentata (Anablepidae) in presence of vegetation under laboratory conditions

“…The consumption rate of J. multidentata under the tested conditions was like the one found in other larvivorous fish that were evaluated and proposed as biocontrol agents, such as Girardinus metallicus Poey, 1854(Hernández Contreras et al, 2004, P. signifer, G. holbrooki (Willems et al, 2005), Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859, Carassius auratus auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Valero et al, 2006) and Cnesterodon decemmaculatus (Jenyns, 1842) (Marti et al, 2006;Tranchida et al, 2010). Jenynsia multidentata consumption results obtained by Marti et al (2006) at a density of 60 larvae were like those achieved in this experiment and inferior at a larval density of 120.…”

Caracterización del consumo de larvas de culícidos (Diptera) en dos especies de peces indígenas de la zona central de Argentina

“…Sobre C. decemmaculatus estudios de preferencia de dieta en laboratorio y de dieta en ambientes naturales desalientan su uso como controladores biológicos (Quintans et al, 2009(Quintans et al, , 2010; contrariamente, estudios llevados a cabo en canales urbanos y en laboratorio apoyan su utilización para estos fines (marti et al, 2006;tranChida et al, 2010). Jenynsia multidentata posee menos antecedentes que la especie anterior.…”

A comparison of the larvivorous habits of exotic Poecilia reticulata and native Aplocheilus parvus

“…It is, therefore, suggested that future plans for any type of biological control using fish should give priority to native species where possible. Use of native fish species rather than exotics has been encouraged [ 41 , 42 ] and a number of attempts have been made to use them [ 13 , 14 , 43 , 44 ]. This strategy can be justified by the diet composition results for P. reticulata in the current study.…”

“…In many instances, the potential of native fish species for biological control has not being explored, although the practice is encouraged [ 11 ] and promising results have been obtained from a handful of studies [ 12 – 14 ]. Since the family Aplocheilidae are already recognized as predators and have been proven to control the larval stages of aquatic insects [ 15 , 16 ], the diet composition of the native Aplocheilus parvus was compared with the exotic P. reticulata in some selected water bodies in Sri Lanka.…”