Dockside Chat - Asian Invasive Species

I am curious and want to see if anyone can shed light on this. After hearing about another invasive species taking hold in the U.S., it seemed to me that the vast majority of invasive species in N.America are Asian; Asian Carp, Long horned beetles, invasive clams, kudzo, gypsy moths, florida python, etc.... The list goes on and on.

So just wondering, and not to sound naive, but are these same species also invasive in Asia? If not, why not, have they used up all the reources available to them in Asia and if so wouldn't they be dead? Also, are there any 'western' species that have been introduced into Asia and have become invasive over there?

Just seems like a strange phenomina and wondering if anyone knows anything about it.

Jim

I am curious and want to see if anyone can shed light on this. After hearing about another invasive species taking hold in the U.S., it seemed to me that the vast majority of invasive species in N.America are Asian; Asian Carp, Long horned beetles, invasive clams, kudzo, gypsy moths, florida python, etc.... The list goes on and on.

So just wondering, and not to sound naive, but are these same species also invasive in Asia? If not, why not, have they used up all the reources available to them in Asia and if so wouldn't they be dead? Also, are there any 'western' species that have been introduced into Asia and have become invasive over there?

Just seems like a strange phenomina and wondering if anyone knows anything about it.

Jim


LM bass was introduced into Japan and other places... some in Japan rank it right up there with the snakeheads. Sone areas have rewards for the bass.

And...
http://www.necis.net/intro-to-invasive-species/what-we-know/ten-invasive-species-that-the-united-states-exported/

And...
http://www.necis.net/intro-to-invasive-species/what-we-know/ten-invasive-species-that-the-united-states-exported/


Very interesting link, thanks

Have to be careful introducing natural enemies. When the starling made its way to the U.S. in the 1800s it became a nuicance species. They (US Government?) decided to import the English Sparrow, the starlings natural enemy to help stop the unbridled growth of the Starling population. For some reason they live in harmony in the U.S. and now we have two unwanted exploding populations.

"Invasive" is used to label "non-native" species. Generally those that have no natural enemies in the new environment and thus their population numbers are not controlled. Those same species would not be considered "invasive" to their native habitats. They'd be called "weeds" or "pests".

This was the first year MD DNR announced zebra mussels being found in Md waters.

I'm not aware of any species that is "invasive" in its native environment, they become invasive when they are chased out of that environment or brought somewhere else. Not all of them come from Asia, I'm thinking about the Brazilian pepper tree and Australian pine that are both invasive in Florida. Peacock Bass and Tilapia have also been introduced to Florida waterways and are displacing native species. Closer to home, lionfish are cleaning off the ledges off the NC coast. No predators.

I'm not aware of any species that is "invasive" in its native environment, they become invasive when they are chased out of that environment or brought somewhere else. Not all of them come from Asia, I'm thinking about the Brazilian pepper tree and Australian pine that are both invasive in Florida. Peacock Bass and Tilapia have also been introduced to Florida waterways and are displacing native species. Closer to home, lionfish are cleaning off the ledges off the NC coast. No predators.


I understand what you're saying but let's take the Asian Long-horned beetle for example. This is off wikipedia:

qte
Asian long-horned beetle gallery development and exit holes weaken the integrity of infested trees and can eventually result in death of severely infested trees. Larvae are considered to be the most dangerous because they tunnel in the cambial (http://www.thehulltruth.com/wiki/Cork_cambium) region of wood. Larvae feeding reduces wood quality. After a tree has been occupied by generations of the beetles, larval feeding can disrupt the tree's vascular tissues, encourage fungal growth, and cause structural weakness, any of which might kill the tree. Adult Asian long-horned beetles are considered to be of minor importance since they feed on twigs, foliage and occasionally on fruit-bearing trees. Asian long-horned beetle attack both healthy and stressed trees, of any size from potted to mature trees.

The Asian long-horned beetle is now one of the most destructive non-native insects in the United States; it and other wood-boring pests cause an estimated $3.5 billion in annual damages in the United States.[7] (http://www.thehulltruth.com/#cite_note-6)
unqte


Now why wouldn't this insect be invasive or damaging in any enviorment that has trees, like Asia or anywhere else. Why is the U.S. having more trouble with it than Asia for instance?

I understand what you're saying but let's take the Asian Long-horned beetle for example. This is off wikipedia:

qte
Asian long-horned beetle gallery development and exit holes weaken the integrity of infested trees and can eventually result in death of severely infested trees. Larvae are considered to be the most dangerous because they tunnel in the cambial (http://www.thehulltruth.com/wiki/Cork_cambium) region of wood. Larvae feeding reduces wood quality. After a tree has been occupied by generations of the beetles, larval feeding can disrupt the tree's vascular tissues, encourage fungal growth, and cause structural weakness, any of which might kill the tree. Adult Asian long-horned beetles are considered to be of minor importance since they feed on twigs, foliage and occasionally on fruit-bearing trees. Asian long-horned beetle attack both healthy and stressed trees, of any size from potted to mature trees.

The Asian long-horned beetle is now one of the most destructive non-native insects in the United States; it and other wood-boring pests cause an estimated $3.5 billion in annual damages in the United States.[7] (http://www.thehulltruth.com/#cite_note-6)
unqte

Now why wouldn't this insect be invasive or damaging in any enviorment that has trees, like Asia or anywhere else. Why is the U.S. having more trouble with it than Asia for instance?

It would be considered a nuisance species in Asia, but not invasive since they are from there. There may also be a bird or other insect that naturally feeds on them, thus controlling the population where as here in the US, they are both a nuisance and invasive species since they aren't indigenous. There may not be any insects or birds here that prey on them, therefore the population is exploding unchecked in the US.

Same thing with Lion Fish and Pythons in the Everglades. Some species like kudzu were purposefully introduced, but the negative impacts were not considered thoroughly and we now have a major problem.

Something about invasive species I learned when we shipped R&D equipment to mainland China...

The Chinese insist that every piece of wood used to build a crate or palette for imported goods have the "kiln-dried" stamp on it, as kiln-drying kills wood pests. We had one piece of 2x4 without the stamp on the crate for a $2Million piece of equipment. Didn't matter that the other half of that original 2x4 was also on the crate and had the stamp. Chinese Customs rejected the shipment, it was shipped back to the USA and had to be re-crated.

Maybe if the USA was so picky, we'd have fewer invasive species problems.

Horses aren't native to North America.

There's the job beetle...profit moth and massive GNP worm...to name a few...

Have to be careful introducing natural enemies. When the starling made its way to the U.S. in the 1800s it became a nuicance species. They (US Government?) decided to import the English Sparrow, the starlings natural enemy to help stop the unbridled growth of the Starling population. For some reason they live in harmony in the U.S. and now we have two unwanted exploding populations.

I was reprimanded by another THT member for shooting them with our bb gun. Them be "song birds".:grin::grin:

Have to be careful introducing natural enemies. When the starling made its way to the U.S. in the 1800s it became a nuicance species. They (US Government?) decided to import the English Sparrow, the starlings natural enemy to help stop the unbridled growth of the Starling population. For some reason they live in harmony in the U.S. and now we have two unwanted exploding populations.

Both of them have destroyed bluebird the population , nesting boxes have helped some .

Re the asian carp.

Their days are numbered here.You may or may not have heard about the koi herpes virus that emerged in Isreal i think a few years ago.

The CSIRO (Australian Govt Science) in normal mans speak. They have been working with this virus and beleive that it will be the biological end for 99% of carp down under. Our beautiful warm sandy rivers have been turned to mud and carp have displaced many of our natural fresh water fish.

This virus kills within days and will wipe out the carp over night. Whole communities will have to be deployed to fish out the dead fish so to stop devistating black water events.

The virus is carp only and doesnt jump to other species. Its the last line of defence.


CSIRO researchers working at Geelong's high-security animal health laboratories are testing the koi herpes virus against carp, native fish and other non-target species.

The virus was first detected in Israel in 1998 and has since spread across the globe, leaving millions of rotting carp in its wake.

When the virus hit Japan in 2003, authorities were forced to clean up thousands of tonnes of dead carp from rivers and lakes.

CSIRO and the Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre are already developing a clean-up strategy, given the risk of clogging Australian waterways with tens of thousands of tonnes of rotten carp.

CRC chief executive Andreas Glanznig said clean-up teams and pre-dug pits would have to be established before the virus could be released.

"The herpes virus hits their gills and then spreads to other organs," Dr Glanznig said.

"Clinical symptoms appear in the morning and they're dead by the evening."

CRC carp program leader Wayne Fulton said the virus was specific to common carp, with no other fish known to be affected, even the closely related goldfish.

"Australia does not have any native species that are closely related to carp," Mr Fulton said.

CSIRO has already tested and cleared the virus against Murray cod, golden and silver perch, with trout and galaxids the next species to be tested.

Dr Glanznig said the research phase of the program should be completed in 2015, with registration and Federal Government approval likely to take an additional two years.

He said the CRC needed to assess the timing and best sites for release of the virus to maximise its impact.

The recent floods have triggered an explosion in the Murray Darling Basin's carp population, which Dr Glanznig said had risen by 4000 per cent at some locations.

Mr Fulton said the virus offered one of the greatest opportunities to revive the basin's ecology, given carp accounted for 90 per cent of the biomass in some rivers and lakes.

Project summary
Koi herpesvirus (KHV) or Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) has devastated carp populations in the US, Israel, Europe and China. Having not yet presented in Australia, KHV may be a highly effective biocontrol if managed and implemented correctly as opposed to unregulated escape. Overseas evidence is very promising, suggesting KHV is species specific (carp only) and highly effective against carp. The Fish Diseases Laboratory at the high-security CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory will examine the potential of KHV as a biological control agent for carp in Australia, undertaking a rigorous assessment of KHV in the laboratory against Australian native species and carp strains.

The project will also include:

screening of wild Australian carp for cyprinid herpesviruses. At least two other cyprinid herpesviruses are known: CyHV-1 (carp pox) and CyHV-2 (goldfish haematopoietic virus). It is essential that samples of carp are screened from different areas of Australia in order to test for the presence of such potentially cross-reactive viruses that could conceivably confer a degree of resistance on Australian carp. Screening of carp would involve collaboration with epidemiologists to establish the sample sizes, and distribution of samples that would be required to be considered statistically significant.
cross-protection studies between CyHV-1 and -3 (KHV). The outcome of screening wild Australian carp for cyprinid herpesviruses may generate the need to conduct some cross-protection studies between CyHV-1 and KHV.
susceptibility of carp of different ages/sizes. It may be that KHV susceptibility is related to age, rather than size, of larvae.
epidemiological considerations. Modelling that simulates the release of KHV in a naive population of carp is required to predict how effective KHV would be in the carp population, how it would spread, how it would persist, the influence of the hydrodynamics of different river systems on these parameters.
These preliminary studies will be strictly confined to the laboratory, and, even if the results are encouraging, it is likely to be many years, and after much public consultation, before the virus would be considered for use in a multi-pronged attempt to control carp in Australia.

Key achievements
Methods for isolation and growth of KHV in cell culture established to international standards.
Methods for detection and identification of KHV by PCR established to international standards.
Demonstration that the KHV Indonesian strain is most effective strain.
During collection of juvenile carp in May and June 2009, a number of larger carp were also collected. These were used for a PhD project (funded outside the IA CRC), and, in the process, some of these fish also provided further data on the susceptibility of Australian carp to KHV. These results complement earlier data (from January/February 2008) on the susceptibility of smaller Australian carp (approximately 1.8 – 4.4 cm) to KHV.
From December 2008 to June 2009 immunocytochemical studies on KHV in tissue culture were conducted. Preliminary studies have indicated that viral antigens in tissue culture can be localised using the same commercial antibody that is also used for immunohistochemistry. At present, the procedure is in the final stages of being optimised.
Key deliverables
A large number of fish studies are being conducted in 2009-10. Animal Ethics Committee approval has been obtained for experiments on: (1) the susceptibility of carp at different ages/sizes; (2) the sensitivity of carp to infection, and excretion of virus; and, (3) the susceptibility of non-target fish species. These experiments are all contingent on the availability of juvenile carp.
Project team
Agus Sunarto and Lynette Williams.

Project partners
IA CRC, Murray-Darling Basin Authority, CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratories.

Further information
McColl KA, Sunarto A, Williams LM and Crane M (2007) Koi herpesvirus: Dreaded pathogen or white knight? Aquaculture Health International 9: 4-6.

Saunders G, Cooke B, McColl K, Shine R and Peacock T (accepted 22 June 2009, in press) Modern approaches for the biological control of vertebrate pests: An Australian perspective. Biological Control

For further information, contact us.



As far as non asian invasive species in oz. Birds, take your pick. Rats, Rabbits, Goats, Pigs, horses, Camels, Cane Toads, Red Eared Slider turtle,. I could go on and on. Hell a few years ago someone up north shot some oversized pigs and later found they were african pygmy hippopotomous.

If i dropped some barramundi or mud crabs in the everglades i bet they would take over.

I was reprimanded by another THT member for shooting them with our bb gun. Them be "song birds".:grin::grin:


You mean they were song birds :grin:

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/111216045343-black-tiger-shrimp-story-top.jpg

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/26/scientists-giant-cannibal-shrimp-invasion-growing/?hpt=hp_c3

An invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday that sightings of the massive Asian tiger shrimp, which can eat their smaller cousins, were 10 times higher in 2011 than in 2010.

“And they are probably even more prevalent than reports suggest, because the more fisherman and other locals become accustomed to seeing them, the less likely they are to report them,” said Pam Fuller, a USGS biologist.

The shrimp, which can grow to 13 inches long, are native to Asian and Australian waters and have been reported in coastal waters from North Carolina to Texas.

They can be consumed by humans.

"They're supposed to be very good. But they can get very large, sorta like lobsters," Fuller said.

While they may make good eatin' for people, it's the eating the giant shrimp do themselves that worries scientists.

"Are they competing with or preying on native shrimp," Fuller asked. "It's also very disease-prone."

To try to get those answers, government scientists are launching a special research project on the creatures.

“The Asian tiger shrimp represents yet another potential marine invader capable of altering fragile marine ecosystems,” NOAA marine ecologist James Morris said in a statement. “Our efforts will include assessments of the biology and ecology of this non-native species and attempts to predict impacts to economically and ecologically important species of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.”

Scientists are uncertain how many of the giant shrimp are in U.S. waters.

In 1998, about 2,000 of the creatures were accidentally released from an aquaculture facility in South Carolina. Three hundred of those were recovered from waters off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida within three months.

Farming of the giant shrimp ended in the United States, but they were caught again off Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana and Florida.

Five were caught off Texas last year, according to Tony Reisinger, country extension agent for the Texas Sea Grant Extension Service.

Scientists don't know if there is a breeding population in U.S. waters. Tiger shrimp females can lay 50,000 to a million eggs, which hatch within 24 hours. Or the shrimp may be carried here by currents or in ballast tanks of marine vessels.

The latest study will look at the DNA of collected specimens.

“We’re going to start by searching for subtle differences in the DNA of Asian tiger shrimp found here – outside their native range – to see if we can learn more about how they got here,” USGS geneticist Margaret Hunter said in a statement. “If we find differences, the next step will be to fine-tune the analysis to determine whether they are breeding here, have multiple populations, or are carried in from outside areas.”

You mean they were song birds :grin:

I had song bird issues. I got a fair few in a cast net.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/111216045343-black-tiger-shrimp-story-top.jpg

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/26/scientists-giant-cannibal-shrimp-invasion-growing/?hpt=hp_c3

An invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday that sightings of the massive Asian tiger shrimp, which can eat their smaller cousins, were 10 times higher in 2011 than in 2010.

“And they are probably even more prevalent than reports suggest, because the more fisherman and other locals become accustomed to seeing them, the less likely they are to report them,” said Pam Fuller, a USGS biologist.

The shrimp, which can grow to 13 inches long, are native to Asian and Australian waters and have been reported in coastal waters from North Carolina to Texas.

They can be consumed by humans.

"They're supposed to be very good. But they can get very large, sorta like lobsters," Fuller said.

While they may make good eatin' for people, it's the eating the giant shrimp do themselves that worries scientists.

"Are they competing with or preying on native shrimp," Fuller asked. "It's also very disease-prone."

To try to get those answers, government scientists are launching a special research project on the creatures.

“The Asian tiger shrimp represents yet another potential marine invader capable of altering fragile marine ecosystems,” NOAA marine ecologist James Morris said in a statement. “Our efforts will include assessments of the biology and ecology of this non-native species and attempts to predict impacts to economically and ecologically important species of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.”

Scientists are uncertain how many of the giant shrimp are in U.S. waters.

In 1998, about 2,000 of the creatures were accidentally released from an aquaculture facility in South Carolina. Three hundred of those were recovered from waters off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida within three months.

Farming of the giant shrimp ended in the United States, but they were caught again off Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana and Florida.

Five were caught off Texas last year, according to Tony Reisinger, country extension agent for the Texas Sea Grant Extension Service.

Scientists don't know if there is a breeding population in U.S. waters. Tiger shrimp females can lay 50,000 to a million eggs, which hatch within 24 hours. Or the shrimp may be carried here by currents or in ballast tanks of marine vessels.

The latest study will look at the DNA of collected specimens.

“We’re going to start by searching for subtle differences in the DNA of Asian tiger shrimp found here – outside their native range – to see if we can learn more about how they got here,” USGS geneticist Margaret Hunter said in a statement. “If we find differences, the next step will be to fine-tune the analysis to determine whether they are breeding here, have multiple populations, or are carried in from outside areas.”


Tigers are a good quality prawn. If you got em , eat em.

Nothing is more fun than getting hit by an Asian carp while flying down a river in the midwest.

I think the asian carp would make great cat food just a way of using the protein

Ok what about the Snakeheads?