Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 43 (4): 693 - 703 (2020) TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE Journal homepage: http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/ Short Communication A Report on Introduced Amazon Sailfin Catfish, Pterygoplichthys pardalis in Gombak Basin, Selangor, with Notes on Two Body Patterns of the Species Abdulwakil Olawale Saba1,2, Nor Fariza Rasli1, Ahmad Ismail1, Syaizwan Zahmir Zulkifli1, Intan Faraha A. Ghani3, Abdullah Halim Muhammad-Rasul4 and Mohammad Noor Azmai Amal1* 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2 School of Agriculture, Lagos State University, 106101 Epe Campus, Lagos, Nigeria 3 Department of Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering and Life Sciences, Universiti Selangor, Bestari Jaya Campus, 45600 Bestari Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia 4 School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia ABSTRACT Invasive introduced fish species are well known for their deleterious impacts on aquatic biodiversity and environment. This study provides the first report on the occurrence of introduced Amazon sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys pardalis from the Gombak basin, Selangor, Malaysia, where the suckermouth catfish, Hypostomus plecostomus and vermiculated sailfin ARTICLE INFO catfish, Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus had Article history: been previously reported. Besides, selected Received: 9 July 2020 Accepted: 22 September 2020 morphometric and meristic measurements Published: 27 November 2020 between P. pardalis and P. disjunctivus from the Pusu River, Gombak basin were DOI: https://doi.org/10.47836/pjtas.43.4.19 compared. Moreover, we also described two E-mail addresses: sabaola@gmail.com (Abdulwakil Olawale Saba) body patterns of the P. pardalis collected norfarizarasli@gmail.com (Nor Fariza Rasli) aismail@upm.edu.my (Ahmad Ismail) from the river. The body pattern which does syaizwan@upm.edu.my (Syaizwan Zahmir Zulkifli) not fit entirely with the known characteristics intanfaraha@unisel.edu.my (Intan Faraha A. Ghani) mrasul87@gmail.com (Abdullah Halim Muhammad-Rasul) of P. pardalis or P. disjunctivus is suspected mnamal@upm.edu.my (Mohammad Noor Azmai Amal) *Corresponding author to be a result of hybridization between ISSN: 1511-3701 e-ISSN: 2231-8542 © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Abdulwakil Olawale Saba, Nor Fariza Rasli, Ahmad Ismail, Syaizwan Zahmir Zulkifli, Intan Faraha A. Ghani, Abdullah Halim Muhammad-Rasul and Mohammad Noor Azmai Amal both species, but deeper study should be conducted to confirm this claim. Keywords: Biological invasion, conservation, Gombak basin, invasive fish, Klang Valley INTRODUCTION In many countries, fish species belonging to the family Loricariidae have become intentionally or inadvertently introduced into natural habitats, where they have become established (Wu et al., 2011). For example, such introductions have been reported in the Puerto Rico (BunkleyWilliams et al., 1994), Taiwan (Liang et al., 2005), United States (Gibbs et al., 2008), and Bangladesh (Hoosain et al., 2008). In Southeast Asia, introductions of these fishes have been reported in the Philippines (Chávez et al., 2006), Singapore (Page & Robins, 2006), Vietnam (Levin et al., 2008), Thailand (Chaichana & Jongphadungkiet, 2012), Indonesia (Qoyyimah et al., 2016), and Malaysia (Khairul-Adha et al., 2013; Samat et al., 2016). Currently, a total of 17 valid species under genus Pterygoplichthys were reported (Fricke et al., 2020). Some of the species of the genus Pterygoplichthys have now invaded five continents and 21 countries around the world (Orfinger & Goodding, 2018), and are known for their impacts on economies and the environment. Specifically, fishes of the genus Pterygoplichthys have been reported to reduce native fish populations due to food competition (Hubilla et al., 2008), increase in the water turbidity as a 694 result of the burrowing males (Gibbs et al., 2010), and predate on eggs (Chaichana & Jongphadungkiet, 2012). The Amazon sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys pardalis is native to the Amazon River basin. However, it has since expanded its range to North America, the Caribbean, and more recently to South Asia (Hossain et al., 2018). Pterygoplichthys pardalis successfully invades new habitats presumably due to its modified scales and strong spines that help to protect it from predation, tolerance to low concentrations of dissolved oxygen, nest construction, parental care, and tolerance to varying levels of salinity (Armbruster & Page, 2006; Capps et al., 2011; Rueda-Jasso et al., 2013). The importation of P. pardalis into Malaysia has been due to the ornamental fish industry (Khairul-Adha et al., 2013). In Malaysia, P. pardalis was previously reported in Langat River, Selangor (Samat et al., 2008), Perak River, Perak (Hashim et al., 2012) and Muar River, Negeri Sembilan (Hasyimah et al., 2013). In this study, we provide the first report on the occurrence of introduced P. pardalis in Gombak basin, Selangor, Malaysia. Moreover, we also describe two body patterns of P. pardalis collected from the area. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted at Pusu River, a small tributary of Gombak basin, Selangor, which is located near the International Islamic University, Gombak Campus, Selangor, Malaysia, with the coordinates Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 43 (4): 693 - 703 (2020) Introduced Amazon Sailfin Catfish of 3°15’01.5”N, 101°43’45.8”E (Figure 1). The study area has a river width that ranges between 2.5 to 10.0 m and is shallow with depth ranging between 0.2 to 1.2 m. The river flows moderately over a sandy substrate with murky waters and low canopy cover, and the riverbank is covered with tall grasses. The Pusu River is located within Klang Valley, an urban area with many aquarium stores. Klang Valley has a population of over 4 million people, and this represents about 16% of Malaysia’s population (Naji et al., 2014). The sampling took place on 24th of February 2020. Two cast nets, each of which is 150 cm long, 305 cm in diameter and 2 cm of mesh size were used for the fish sampling. In each sampling point, two hours were given for the fish sampling activity. Collected fishes were fixed in 10% of formalin and then preserved in 70% of alcohol for long storage. Voucher specimens were deposited in the Museum of Zoology, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur (UMKL). Figure 1. Locations of the occurrence of the Amazon sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys pardalis in Pusu River, Gombak basin, Selangor are indicated by green dots. Map was designed using ArcMap, version 10.2 (www.esri.com) Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 43 (4): 693 - 703 (2020) 695 Abdulwakil Olawale Saba, Nor Fariza Rasli, Ahmad Ismail, Syaizwan Zahmir Zulkifli, Intan Faraha A. Ghani, Abdullah Halim Muhammad-Rasul and Mohammad Noor Azmai Amal Selected counts and measurements were made on the left side of the specimens following Boeseman (1968). Distances were measured in millimeters (mm) using dial calipers and were converted to percentages of standard length (SL) or head length (HL). Morphometric measurement of the collected fishes such as head length, dorsal spine length, pectoral spine length, predorsal length, percentage of head length, head depth, snout length, orbital diameter and interorbital distance were compared using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. Following dissection, the sex of the fish was easily identifiable since the gonads were easily visible and distinguishable. Specimens were identified based on keys provided by Armbruster and Page (2006), Page and Robins (2006), as well as Golani and Snovsky (2013). The photos of freshly caught and preserved specimens were also taken for further identification. RESULTS Fish of the genus Pterygoplichthys is mainly identified based on body pattern on the ventral side. Based on the observed coloration and stripe patterns, three body patterns of Pterygoplichthys were found in Pusu River, namely the Amazon sailfin catfish, P. pardalis ‘type A’, P. pardalis ‘type B’, and the vermiculated sailfin catfish, P. disjunctivus. Table 1 summarizes the selected morphometric and meristic measurements for the three types of the Pterygoplichthys found in the study area. Most of the measurements fell within the same range, with the exception of the 696 snout lengths of P. pardalis ‘type A’ that appeared to be significantly (p < 0.05) shorter compared to P. pardalis ‘type B’ and P. disjunctivus. Thus, coloration and stripe patterns were more useful in differentiating this species. Pterygoplichthys pardalis was identified by having discrete dark spots on the ventral part of the body. This species has a pattern of uncoalesced dark spots with a light background. Its pectoral fins are stout with rough surfaces and an inferior disk-shaped protrusible mouth, which we named as P. pardalis ‘type A’ (Figure 2). In contrast, P. disjunctivus has dark vermiculations on a light background. The vermiculations are mostly continuous with one another, unlike the mostly unconnected spots found in P. pardalis (Figure 3). However, in this study, we also found several specimens of P. pardalis that have more discrete and larger spots than the other specimens, and linked to form short chains, which we named as P. pardalis ‘type B’ (Figure 4). DISCUSSION This study presents the first report of the introduced loricariid species, P. pardalis in the Gombak basin, Selangor, Malaysia. This finding also has added one more fish species to the list of Fatinizzati et al. (2018), which make the current total number of fish species known to occur in Gombak basin is 35. In Malaysia, P. pardalis was previously reported in Langat River, Selangor (Samat et al., 2008), Perak River, Perak (Hashim et al., 2012), and Muar River, Negeri Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 43 (4): 693 - 703 (2020) Table 1 Selected morphometrics and meristics of Amazon sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys pardalis ‘type A’ and ‘type B’, and vermiculated sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus from Pusu River, Gombak basin, Selangor Species Pterygoplichthys pardalis ‘type A’ (n = 7) Range Mean ± SD Pterygoplichthys pardalis ‘type B’ (n = 9) Range Mean ± SD Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus (n=7) Range Mean ± SD Characters 334 - 440 345 - 470 353 - 450 Standard length (in mm) 244 -346 265 - 371 271 - 346 Percentage of standard length Head length 21.9 - 25.3 (23.8 ± 1.1) 23.2 - 26.1 (24.5 ± 0.9) 23.1 - 25.2 (24.0 ± 0.7) Dorsal spine length 16.5 - 22.5 (19.5 ± 2.1) 16.4 - 21.4 (18.8 ± 1.5) 17.2 - 19.7 (18.7 ± 0.8) Pectoral spine length 23.7 - 29.2 (26.0 ± 2.0) 20.0 - 27.1 (24.3 ± 2.1) 22.5 - 29.4 (25.7 ± 2.5) Predorsal length 37.2 - 42.9 (39.3 ± 1.8) 35.9 - 39.4 (37.6 ± 1.1) 36.7 - 42.7 (39.1 ± 2.2) Head depth 62.7 - 67.9 (65.3 ± 1.7) 58.8 - 68.2 (63.8 ± 2.8) 62.3 - 68.9 (65.0 ± 2.5) Snout length 40.4 - 44.5 (42.3 ± 1.3)a 43.2 - 47.2 (45.4 ± 1.4)b 41.5 - 45.4 (44.2 ± 1.2)b Orbital diameter 11.4 - 14.9 (13.1 ± 1.3) 10.1 - 15.2 (12.2 ± 1.6) 11.4 - 14.6 (12.7 ± 1.1) Interorbital distance 48.8 - 55.9 (51.2 ± 2.2) 45.5 - 53.4 (49.0 ± 2.5) 47.4 - 54.0 (50.7 ± 2.8) Dorsal-fin rays I,11 (2), I,12 (4), I,13 (1) Percentage of head length I, 12 (6), I,13 (3) I,11 (2), I,12 (5) Anal-fin rays I,4 (7) I,4 (9) I,4 (7) Pectoral-fin rays I,6 (7) I,6 (9) I,6 (7) Pelvic-fin rays I,5 (7) I,5 (9) I,5 (7) Lateral-line plates 28 (3), 29 (2), 30 (2) 29 (5), 30 (4) 28 (2), 29 (5) Predorsal plates 3 (7) 3 (9) 3 (7) 697 Note. a, b Different superscripts indicate significant different (p < 0.05) of the same row Introduced Amazon Sailfin Catfish Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 43 (4): 693 - 703 (2020) Total length (in mm) Abdulwakil Olawale Saba, Nor Fariza Rasli, Ahmad Ismail, Syaizwan Zahmir Zulkifli, Intan Faraha A. Ghani, Abdullah Halim Muhammad-Rasul and Mohammad Noor Azmai Amal Figure 2. Dorsal, lateral, and ventral views of the Amazon sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys pardalis ‘type A’, UMKL 12834-1, 345.0 mm SL (Photos by Muhammad-Rasul A. H.) Figure 3. Dorsal, lateral, and ventral views of the vermiculated sailfin catfish, Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus, UMKL 12835-1, 342.0 mm SL (Photos by Muhammad-Rasul A. H.) 698 Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 43 (4): 693 - 703 (2020) Introduced Amazon Sailfin Catfish Figure 4. Comparison on the body pattern on the ventral part of Pterygoplichthys spp. from Pusu River, Gombak basin, Selangor. A) Pterygoplichthys pardalis ‘type A’, B) Pterygoplichthys pardalis ‘type B’, and C) Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus (Photos by Muhammad-Rasul A. H.) Sembilan (Hasyimah et al., 2013), while P. disjunctivus was reported for Kampar River catchment, Perak (Ng et al., 2018) and Pahang River, Pahang (Mohd-Sukeri et al., 2020). The occurrences of fish species of the genus Pterygoplichthys have been reported to result in negative impacts, whereas these species continue to flourish. Some of the impacts include a reduction in native fish population due to competition for food, increase in water turbidity due to the effect of the burrowing activities of the males, and predation on the eggs of co-occurring fishes (Chaichana & Jongphadungkiet, 2012; Gibbs et al., 2010; Hubilla et al., 2008). Loricariid species do not only forage along the bottoms of streams and lakes, but also bury their heads in the substrates and lash their tails occasionally making it possible to shear and uproot aquatic plants, thus reducing the abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation (Global Invasive Species Database [GISD], 2020). Their grazing activities on benthic algae and detritus may also reduce the availability of food and shelter for aquatic insects, which serve as food for other resident fish species (Ozdilek, 2007). In the long run, their activities may lead to bank structure alteration, which may cause erosion, competition with native species, alteration of the aquatic flora, and fishing gear damage (GISD, 2020; Hossain et al., 2018). Previously, Jalal et al. (2018) reported the occurrence of the suckermouth catfish, Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci. 43 (4): 693 - 703 (2020) 699 Abdulwakil Olawale Saba, Nor Fariza Rasli, Ahmad Ismail, Syaizwan Zahmir Zulkifli, Intan Faraha A. Ghani, Abdullah Halim Muhammad-Rasul and Mohammad Noor Azmai Amal Hypostomus plecostomus from Pusu River, which we did not find during this study. This may be a result of the very low sampling effort deployed in this study. Meanwhile, Fatinizzati et al. (2018) only found P. disjunctivus in Pusu River. Species of the genus Pterygoplichthys are often confused with Hypostomus, from which they can be easily distinguished by having more dorsal fin rays 11-14 dorsal rays (vs. 7 in Hypostomus) (Fatinizzati et al., 2018; Golani & Snovsky, 2013). In this study, we suspect that the different body patterns of P. pardalis ‘type B’ may have resulted from hybridization between P. pardalis and P. disjunctivus, which were both encountered at the same time. However, deeper investigation based on molecular analysis is needed to confirm this claim. Indeed, hybridization ability of different invasive fish species in natural waterbodies could add more to the problems of native fishes in this country. However, in this study, it is glaring that the P. pardalis ‘type B’ body pattern is distinguishable from the typical dark vermiculations on a light background which is obtainable in P. pardalis (Chávez et al., 2006). The morphometric and meristic measurements for the three types of the Pterygoplichthys in this study generally fell within the same range. Thus, coloration and stripe patterns were more useful in differentiating this species. CONCLUSION This study provides the first report on the occurrence of introduced Amazon sailfin 700 catfish, Pterygoplichthys pardalis from the Gombak basin, Selangor. Moreover, we also described two body patterns of the P. pardalis collected from the river. The variant which does not fit entirely with the known characteristics of P. pardalis or P. disjunctivus is suspected to be a result of hybridization between both species, but deeper study should be conducted to confirm this claim. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Financial support was granted by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2018/STG03/UPM/02/11). REFERENCES Armbruster, J. W., & Page, L. M. (2006). 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