Invasion
Invasion Description
None
Geographic Extent
FL/Appalachicola River (native spawning stock has been augmented by introduced Atlantic Coast fishes. 'Approximately 1.8 million fry (,15 mm) and 125,000 fingerlings (25-50 mm) of Atlantic ancestry were released into the ACF over the 12-year period from 1965 to 1976 (Nicholson 1986, cited by Wirgin et al. 1997; Wirgin et al. 2005)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Probable | Fisheries Accidental (not Oyster) |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Hybridization | |
| Hybridization- Estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico, from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana (and possibly Texas) supported a genetically distinct native stock of Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), with a distinct riverine-estuarine life history, in which the fish depended on cool springs and streams to survive high summer temperatures. Almost all this stock was extirpated in the 1950s, and replaced with Striped Bass from Atlantic stocks. One remnant population occurs in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river system in Florida. Striped Bass from Atlantic stocks, from the Santee-Cooper river system, South Carolina, were stocked in the ACF rivers from 1965 to 1976. The native stock continues to reproduce in the river system, but in spite extensive introgression with Atlantic fish. Hatchery rearing of ACF fish is recommended for restocking of Gulf estuaries (Wirgin et al. 2005). | ||