Invasive potential of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in American freshwater systems

Abstract: Nonnative fish introductions disrupt ecosystem processes and can drive native species to local extinction. Two of the most widespread, introduced species are the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) from Eurasia and the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) from Africa. In North and South America, these introductions stem from aquaculture facilities, as well as historical introductions for recreational angling. An emergent field of ecological niche modeling provides robust predictions of the geographic potential of alien species to better understand their capacity to become established at broad scales. We used this modeling approach to produce spatially explicit predictions of the invasive potential of common carp and Nile tilapia in the Americas. Model predictions were tested using occurrence data for established populations in their native area and in the Americas. Results indicated that predictive power of niche mod-els was high. Distributional potential of common carp in the Americas covers most temperate regions and high moun-tain tropical aquatic systems, whereas that of Nile tilapia is focused in the tropics and coast areas. The consequences of the potential establishment of these exotic species can be profound on native aquatic faunas, particularly on highly diverse regions such as the Amazon Basin and central Mexico. Résumé: Les introductions de poissons non indigènes perturbent les processus écosystémiques et peuvent causer l’extinction locale d’espèces indigènes. Deux des espèces les plus généralement introduites sont la carpe commune (Cyprinus carpio) d’Eurasie et le tilapia du Nil (Oreochromis niloticus) d’Afrique. En Amérique du Nord et du Sud