Asian Journal of Research in Zoology

Invasive species have been known for a long time in science. Such species are called invasive because they tend to harm native ecosystems and organisms. Invasive species being less demanding, less predators, hardy nature and high reproduction rates have a negative impact on native organisms and hence increase the competition for such native organisms. One such organism which we have reported in this paper is the Pterygoplichthys pardalis also known as “Amazon sailfin catfish”. This fish along with other genus’ are known as “janitor fish”. These fishes belong to the family Loricariidae known as “armored catfishes”. These fishes are very popular for their hardy nature and in the aquarium trade it is also known by the aquarists as an impossible fish to kill because it can survive in any conditions , although in the aquarium trade due to lack of knowledge among aquarium hobbyist these catfishes tend to grow larger than the tanks they were kept, this results in many of the people releasing these large catfishes in local water bodies as a mean to get rid of it and hence such catfishes become invasive. One such case is the invasion of these catfishes in Nirmal Lake, Maharashtra which is the first recorded occurrence in this region. After obtaining the specimen and its detailed analysis we in this study emphasize the harmful effects of such invasive species to local fishermen and also to local fauna and further raise awareness among the common people.