Estuarine dispersal of an invasive Holarctic predator (Esox lucius) confirmed in North America.

ABSTRACT: The capacity for a non-native species to become invasive largely hinges on existing dispersal capacity or adaptation of dispersal in new environments. Here we provide early evidence that invasive Northern Pike (Esox lucius), a Holarctic freshwater top predator, illegally introduced in the late 1950s into Southcentral Alaska, are now dispersing through estuarine corridors. This finding represents the first known documentation of estuary use and dispersal by Northern Pike in North America, exacerbating conservation concerns for already depressed populations of culturally and economically important species such as salmonids. To reconstruct the migratory pathway of individual Northern Pike captured at locations known to be recently invaded, we analyzed the strontium isotope composition (87Sr/8

SUBMITTER: Wooller MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11676553 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature