Description

Misgurnus fossilis, the European Weatherfish. is uncommon in the US aquarium trade (Rixon et al. 2005), and has not been reported in North Ameircan waters (USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2014).

Taxonomy

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus
Animalia	Chordata	Osteichthyes	Cypriniformes	Cobitidae	Misgurnus

Synonyms

Cobitis anguillicaudata; Nemachilus lividus; Misgurnus lividus

Invasion History

Chesapeake Bay Status

First Record	Population	Range	Introduction	Residency	Source Region	Native Region	Vectors
2007	Failed	Contracting	Introduced	Unconfirmed	East Asia	East Asia	Ornamental (Pet Release)

History of Spread

Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Oriental Weatherfish; Pond Loach; Dojo Loach) is native to East Asia, from the Amur Basin and Sakahlin Island south, through Korea, Japan. and Taiwan, south to Vietnam and the Irrawaddy Basin in Burma (Lever 1996; Froese and Pauly 2014). It was introduced as a food fish to the Hawaian Islands before 1900, and to the Philippines before 1939 (Lever 1996). This fish became popular for its unuusal eel-like appearance, its role as an aquarium scavenger, and its tendency to show increased swimming during a change of barometirc pressure (Courtenay et al. 1986; Lever 1996). Scattered populations have been found in Australia since 1980 (Lever 1996), Germany (1990, Freyhof and Korte 2005), Netherlands (2012, Van Kessel et al. 2013), Spain (2001, Franch et al. (2008) and in Brazil (Abilhao et al. 2013).

North American populations and releases of M. anguillicaudatus are similarly scattered and localized, but increasing in frequency. The first reported population was introduced to a goldfish pond in Holly MI, outside Detroit in 1939 (Courtenay et al.1986; Mills et al. 1993). At least 12 established populations are established in different continental US states, from NY to FL and WA to AZ (Courtenay et al.1986; USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2014). Two notable populations on the West Coast are in southern California, in drainage ditches near Huntington Beach CA (1977, Courtenay et al. 1986) and along the Columbia River estuary near Portland OR (1985, Logan et al. 1996). On the Gulf Coast, it has been established in tributaries in of Tampa Bay since 1988 (USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2014). At least 5 populations are established in New York State, on tributaries of the Susquehanna, Mohawk, Hudson, and on Long Island (Schmidt and Schmidt 2014).

On June 18, 2007 one specimen of M. anguillicaudatus was collected in Gwynns Falls stream, in Baltimore County, just outside Baltimore City limits. A secod specimen was collected in the Patapsco River, near Alberton and Daniels Dam, on the Patapsco River, on August 19, 2009. Both locations are about 10-20 km from tidal waters (Ashton and Cicotto 2010). There are no further records of this fish in the Chesapeake bay watershed.

Invasion Comments

None

Ecology

Environmental Tolerances

	For Survival		For Reproduction
	Minimum	Maximum	Minimum	Maximum
Temperature (ºC)	2.0	30.0
Salinity (‰)	0.0		0.0
Oxygen	hypoxic
pH
	Salinity Range	fresh-oligo

Age and Growth

	Male	Female
Minimum Adult Size (mm)	96.0	97.0
Typical Adult Size (mm)	190.0	150.0
Maximum Adult Size (mm)	280.0	280.0
Maximum Longevity (yrs)
Typical Longevity (yrs

Reproduction

	Start	Peak	End
Reproductive Season
Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event
Sexuality Mode(s)
Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction
Fertilization Type(s)
More than One Reproduction Event per Year
Reproductive Startegy
Egg/Seed Form

Impacts

Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay

Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Oriental Weatherfish) is widely sold as an aquarium fish, and two individuals have been caught in Chesapeake Bay tributaries near Baltimore. However, no established populations are known (Ashton and Cicotta 2010; USGS Noningdigenous Aquatic Species Program 2014).

Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay

Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Oriental Weatherfish) is widely sold as an aquarium fish. Many localized populations have become established in North America, Europe, South America, and Australia. No impacts have been reported, but studies of introduced populations have been limited (Logan et al. 1996; Ashton et al. 2010; Schmidt et al. 2014).

Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species

No ecological impacts have been reported for Misgurnus anguillicaudatus in North America. However, its invasions are a source of concern, because this is a species with no ecological equivalent in North America. This fish's burrowing habits and air-breathing capability could give it an advantage over naitve species (Ashton and Cicotto 2014; Schmidt and Schmidt 2014). Its impact in fresh tidal wetlands, such as those of the Hudson River, and Chesapeake Bay cannot be predicted.

Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species

No ecological impacts have been reported for Misgurnus anguillicaudatus in North America

References

Abilhoa, V.; Bornatowski, H.; Vitule, J. R. S. (2013) Occurrence of the alien invasive loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus in the Iguacu River basin in southern Brazil: a note of concern, Journal of Applied Ichthyology 29: 257-259

Ashton, Matthew; Ciccotto, Patrick (2010) First records of Oriental Weatherfish (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) in Maryland, Northeastern Naturalist 17: 671-672

Courtenay, Walter R., Jr., Hensley, Dannie A., Taylor, Jeffrey N., McCann, James A. (1986) Distribution of exotic fishes in North America, In: Hocutt, Charles H., and Wiley, E. O.(Eds.) The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. , New York. Pp. 675-698

2002-2024 FishBase.(World Wide Web electronic publication).. http://filaman.uni-kiel.de/search.html

Lever, Christopher (1985) Naturalized mammals of the world., In: (Eds.) . , London. Pp.

Lever, Christopher (1996) Naturalized fishes of the world., , London, England. Pp.

Logan, Daniel J.; Bibles, Erin L.; Markle, Douglas F. (1996) Recent collections of exotic aquarium fishes in Oregon and thermal tolerance of Oriental Weatherfish and Piratpatinga, California Fish and Game 88: 66-80

Mills, Edward L.; Leach, Joseph H.; Carlton, James T.; Secor, Carol L. (1993) Exotic species in the Great Lakes: a history of biotic crises and anthropogenic introductions., Journal of Great Lakes Research 19: 1-54

Schmidt, Robert E.; Schmidt, Alec J. (2014) Observations on Oriental Weatherfish (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus), an exotic epecies in the Hudson River Valley, New York, Northeastern Naturalist 58: 2046-2058

2003-2024 Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database. Gainesville, FL. http://nas.er.usgs.gov