Assessing the potential impact of alien fish, Pterygoplichthys pardalis in Langat River using the Generic Impact Scoring System (GISS) Nabil Arif Mohamed (a), Adibah Abu Bakar (b), Sebastien Lavoue (c), Mohammad Noor Amal Azmai (d), Intan Faraha A Ghani (a*),
(a) Faculty of Engineering and Life Sciences, University Selangor, Jalan Timur Tambahan, 45600 Batang Berjuntai, Selangor
*corresponding author: Dr. Intan Faraha A Ghani (intanfaraha[at]unisel.edu.my)
(b) Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), 35900, Tanjong Malim, Perak, Malaysia
(c) School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia
(d) Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract
Alien invasive species such as Pterygoplichthys pardalis can exercise negative impacts. Thus, quantifying the impact of the alien fish species is crucial from a scientific standpoint and is necessary for implementing invasion-related policies and strategies. Our studies aim to (1) provide a list of invasive freshwater fish species in Malaysia including its potential impact, (2) assess and compare the potential impact of P. pardalis species that were found in Langat River. The generic impact scoring system (GISS) are selected as the system used to assess the degree of the alien species impact. A 10-category framework divided for 6 environmental and 4 socioeconomic effect that encompasses all types of affects that an alien fish species may have. The strength of impact is measured on a six-level scale in each category used to analysis available literature and online sources on the reported environmental and socioeconomics impacts of alien fish species in Malaysia. Which result shows that P. pardalis scores of 22 out of 50, the second highest among 17 species. This indicates that the species should be one of the top priorities for government management programs. In future, more research should aim to provide more on the impact of the introduced species rather than just a ^first record^.
Keywords: Pterygoplichthys pardalis, Generic Impact Scoring System, Invasive species
