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Attempted Chemical Renovation of an Arizona Springbrook for Management of the Endangered Sonoran Topminnow
Author(s) -
Meffe Gary K.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1983)3<315:acroaa>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - mosquitofish , endangered species , gambusia , predation , biology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , ecology , fishery , habitat , population , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , paleontology , sociology
Abstract The Gila topminnow (Poeciliopsis occidentalis), an endangered poeciliid, rapidly declined in two Arizona springbrooks after colonization by non‐native mosquitofish. This characteristic outcome of interaction between these two species results from mosquitofish predation and generally leads to local extinction of the native fish. After removing a replacement population of topminnows, one springbrook was poisoned with Antimycin A in an attempt to remove all mosquitofish. Although mosquitofish appeared to be eliminated, and the re‐introduced topminnows quickly expanded to large populations, mosquitofish again were present in the system several months later. Renovation attempts at other localities have produced similar results, and serve to illustrate difficulties involved in removing a fish species from a habitat for management purposes.