A highly invasive fish that can tolerate and adapt to a range of environmental conditions is expanding its range, leading some to dub it the “new cane toad”.
Tilapia mariae is a freshwater and estuarine species that is native to coastal western Africa but is also found in northern Australia.
T. mariae can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, salinity and oxygen concentrations and can also adapt its diet and reproductive strategies according to environmental conditions.
The fish competes for food and habitat with a number of other species, including freshwater catfish, gar and bream.
The fish is already a huge environmental concern in the US and until now, it’s impacts in Australian waters were largely unknown.
Read more at CSIRO