NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Nile perch

The Nile perch (Lates niloticus) is a species of freshwater fish in family Centropomidae of order Perciformes. It is widespread throughout much of the Afrotropic ecozone, being native to the Lake Chad, Congo, Nile, Senegal, Volta, Lake Turkana and other river basins. It also occurs in the brackish waters of Lake Maryut in Egypt. Originally described as Labrus niloticus, among the marine wrasses, the species has also been referred to as Centropomus niloticus. Common names include African snook , Victoria perch (a misleading trade name, as the species is not native to Lake Victoria), and a large number of local names in various African languages. Nile perch (Lates niloticus). ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Orders See text The Actinopterygii are the ray-finned fish. ... Families many, see text The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, include about 40% of all fish and are the largest order of vertebrates. ... Genera (see text) The Centropomidae are a family of freshwater and marine fishes in order Perciformes. ... Species (see text) Lates Cuvier, 1828, is a genus of freshwater and marine fish in family Centropomidae of order Perciformes. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as , (May 23, 1707[1] â€“ January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... 1758 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The hierarchy of scientific classification. ... For the village on the Isle of Wight, see Freshwater, Isle of Wight. ... A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are cold-blooded, covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... The hierarchy of scientific classification In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is a rank, or a taxon in that rank. ... Italic text Genera Centropomus The Centropomidae are a family of freshwater and marine fishes in Order Perciformes, including the common snook or rÃ³balo, Centropomus undecimalis. ... In scientific classification used in biology, the order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). ... Families many, see text The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, include about 40% of all fish and are the largest order of vertebrates. ... The Afrotropic Ecozone is Africa south of the Sahara Desert. ... An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeographic division of the earths surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals. ... Lake Chad (in French: Lac Tchad) is a large, shallow lake in Africa. ... The Nile (Arabic: , transliteration: , Ancient Egyptian iteru, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. ... The Adome bridge crosses the Volta river south of the Akosombo Dam Volta is a river in central and western Africa that drains into the Gulf of Guinea. ... View over Lake Turkana Lake Turkana, formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya (although the far northern end of the lake crosses into Ethiopia), which covers a surface area of 6405 kmÂ² (2473 miÂ²), making it the worlds largest permanent desert... Brackish water is water that is saltier than fresh water, but not as salty as sea water. ... Lake Mariout (also spelled Maryut or Mariut) is a salt lake of about 250 square km in northern Egypt. ... Annual mean sea surface salinity for the World Ocean. ... Genera (60 genera) The wrasses are a family (family Labridae) of reef safe marine fish, many of which are brightly-colored and popular for aquaria. ...

Lates niloticus is silver in colour with a blue tinge. It has a distinctive dark black eye, with a bright yellow outer ring. One of the largest freshwater fish, it reaches a maximum length of nearly two metres (more than six feet), weighing up to 200 kg (440 lb). The pound (abbreviations: lb or, sometimes in the United States, #) is a unit of mass (called weight in everyday parlance) in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...

Adult Nile perch occupy all habitats of a lake with sufficient oxygen concentrations, while juveniles are restricted to shallow or nearshore environments. A fierce predator that dominates its surroundings, the Nile perch feeds on fish (including its own species), crustaceans, and insects; the juveniles also feed on zooplankton. General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Standard atomic weight 15. ... This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ... A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are cold-blooded, covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... Classes Remipedia Cephalocarida Branchiopoda Ostracoda Maxillopoda Malacostraca The crustaceans (Crustacea) are a large group of arthropods (55,000 species), usually treated as a subphylum. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Monura - extinct Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (may be paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Diaphanopterodea - extinct Protodonata - extinct Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Caloneurodea - extinct Titanoptera - extinct Protorthoptera - extinct Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera... Photomontage of plankton organisms Plankton is the aggregate community of weakly swimming but mostly drifting small organisms that inhabit the water column of the ocean, seas, and bodies of freshwater. ...

Nile perch have been introduced to many other lakes in Africa, including Lake Victoria (see below) and the artificial Lake Nasser. The IUCN's (World Conservation Union) Invasive Species Specialist Group considers Lates niloticus one of the world's 100 worst invasive species. The state of Queensland in Australia got heavy fines for anyone who possess living Nile perch in the state, since it's competing with the native fish Barramundi which is similar but don't reach same size as the Nile perch. Lake Victoria and the Great Rift Valley Lake Victoria height variation The lake as seen from space, looking west, with other members of the African Great Lakes forming an arc in the middle distance. ... View of Lake Nasser from Abu Simbel Map showing the location of Lake Nasser Lake Nasser (Arabic: Buhayrat Nasir) is a vast artificial lake in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 28 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $158,506 (3rd) - Product per capita $40,170/person (6th) Population (End of November 2006) - Population 4,164,590 (3rd) - Density 2. ... Binomial name Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) The barramundi (Lates calcarifer) is a species of diadromous fish in family Centropomidae of order Perciformes. ...

The species is of great commercial importance as a food fish. The Nile perch is also popular with sport anglers as it attacks artificial fishing lures and is also raised in aquaculture. Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish by hooking, trapping, or gathering. ... Spinner lure with ring, dish, body/weight and hook In terms of sport fishing, a lure is an object, often designed to resemble fish prey, equipped with one or many hooks that is used to catch fish. ... Workers harvest catfish from the Delta Pride Catfish farms in Mississippi General Agribusiness Â· Agriculture Agricultural science Â· Agronomy Animal husbandry Challenges of industrial farming Extensive farming Factory farming Â· Free range Green Revolution History of agriculture Industrial agriculture Industrial agriculture (animals) Industrial agriculture (crops) Intensive farming Â· Organic farming Permaculture Sustainable agriculture Zero...

Lake Victoria introduction

The introduction of this species to Lake Victoria is one of the most commonly cited^{[citation needed]} examples of the negative effects invasive alien species can have on ecosystems.

The Nile perch was introduced to Lake Victoria in East Africa, in the 1950s, and since then it has been fished commercially. It is attributed with causing the extinction or near-extinction of several hundred native species, but as Nile Perch stocks decrease due to commercial fishing, at least some of them are making a comeback. Initially, the Nile perch's diet consisted of native cichlids, but with decreasing availability of this prey, it now consumes mainly small shrimps and minnows. Sweet clover (), introduced and naturalized to the U.S. from Eurasia as a forage and cover crop. ... Lake Victoria and the Great Rift Valley Lake Victoria height variation The lake as seen from space, looking west, with other members of the African Great Lakes forming an arc in the middle distance. ... Eastern Africa (UN subregion) East African Community Central African Federation (defunct) geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... The Dodo, shown here in a 1651 illustration by Jan Savery, is an often-cited[1] example of modern extinction. ... Genera Cichlids (pronounced â€œsick-lidsâ€) are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. ...

The fish's introduction to Lake Victoria, while ecologically negative, has stimulated the establishment of large fishing companies there. In 2003 Nile perch earned 169 million Euros in sales to the EU. The long-term outlook is less clear, as overfishing is now reducing Lates niloticus populations.

The alteration of the native ecosystem has also had disruptive socioeconomic effects on local communities bordering the lake. Large-scale fishing operations, while earning millions of dollars from their exported Lates niloticus catch, have displaced many local people from their traditional occupations in the fishing trade and brought them into the cash economy or - before the establishment of export-oriented fisheries - turned them into economic refugees. At least initially^{[verification needed]}, nets strong enough to hold adult Nile perch could not be manufactured locally and had to be imported for a high price. According to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who The concept of a refugee was expanded by the Conventionsâ€™ 1967 Protocol and by regional conventions in Africa and Latin America to include persons who had fled war or other violence...

The introduction of Nile perch have had additional ecological effects on shore. Native cichlids were traditionally sun-dried, but Nile perch have a higher fat content than cichlids so instead need to be smoked to avoid spoiling. This has led to an increased demand for firewood in a region already hard-hit by deforestation, soil erosion and desertification. Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area or wasteland. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, or movement in response to gravity. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

The Academy Award-nominated documentary Darwin's Nightmare by Hubert Sauper (a French-Austrian-Belgian production, 2004) deals with the damage that has been caused by Nile Perch introduction, including the import of weapons and ammunition in cargo planes from Europe that then export Nile perch, exacerbating conflict and misery in the surrounding regions. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... Darwins Nightmare film poster Darwins Nightmare is a 2004 film written and directed by Hubert Sauper. ... Hubert Sauper was born in Tyrol, Austria. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ...

"Darwin's Nightmare" is highly controversial, however, to those who consider the introduction of Nile perch beneficial. They accuse the documentary of deliberately implying causalities that do not actually exist. Even among critics of the introduction, the focus on spectacular but only loosely correlated recent issues - the neglect of the actual ecologic and economic upheaval caused by L. niloticus proliferation in Lake Victoria - most of which happened in the 1960s and 1970s prior to introduction.

Regardless of opinion, it appears that the trophic web of Lake Victoria has been drastically altered through the introduction of this novel near-top-level predator. While the lake ecosystem is slowly finding to a new equilibrium, the former state of fisheries on Lake Victoria probably cannot be brought back, regardless of whether this is considered positive or negative. Another income is the sportfishing tourism in the region of Uganda and Tanzania which aim to catch this fish. Food chains, food webs and/or food networks describe the feeding relationships between species in a biotic community. ... Apex predators (sometimes called Man-Eaters, Alpha-Predators, or Super-Predators) are predators that are not themselves preyed upon as a species. ... Look up equilibrium in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Lake Victoria introduction

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