Fishermen sort 'Tilapia' fingerlings at a fish farm in Sampaloc Lake in San Pablo city, south of Manila October 24, 2014. Picture taken October 24, 2014.
Fishermen sort 'Tilapia' fingerlings at a fish farm in Sampaloc Lake in San Pablo city, south of Manila October 24, 2014. Picture taken October 24, 2014. Reuters/Stringer

Scientists are calling the attention of Australian authorities regarding the risks that the fauna is facing when they found invasive fish species from Papua New Guinea threaten to hit AU waters, sources reports. Scientists have already spotted the aggressive fish species on the most northern outposts in Australia—the Torres Strait islands Boigu and Saibai in Queensland, as reported in The Guardian.

The climbing perch, or Anabas testudineus, is a fish species that has the ability to survive out of the water for about six days and make their way to dry lands. It is a Southeast Asian native and has invaded territories in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea for the last forty years due to being washed up by rainfall.

James Cook University scientist Nathan Waltham, who is heading the study on the invasion of the species in Torres Strait, believes that eradicating the fish from the two islands will be challenging since their registration in 2005. The study on the climbing perch also found that it can tolerate salt water.

Sources said Waltham had observed in December that the fish was able to live in waters that have the salt level of ocean waters. The team have also studied the fish in their laboratory to gain better understanding on how it can tolerate saltwater and how fast it can navigate through various terrains.

The climbing perch kills its predators by swelling up when ingested, causing an obstruction to the predators’ throat to choke or starve them, a defence mechanism that worries ecologists. The presence of the climbing perch in an uncommon habitat “can disrupt the balance of that habitat” and would become a “major disaster” for AU wetlands native species, as Waltham said.

Although the fish has not reached AU mainland yet, scientists are concerned that it could if they are not managed well. Usually, the species has been spread between villages in the two Torres Strait islands by hitching a ride on the bottom of the fishing boats, according to sources.

The team is currently monitoring the spread on Torres Strait and Waltham urged locals to report to relevant authorities any unfamiliar fish sightings. “Only with ongoing education and surveillance are we going to prevent climbing perch from arriving in northern Australia,” he said.

Source: Youtube

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