Report prepared for the Experts Meeting Towards the Implementation of a Global Invasive Species
Information Network (GISIN), 6-8 April, 2004. Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Page 54
8/30/2004
FishBase: A Global Information
System on Fishes
Christine Casal, Research Associate, WorldFish
Center, WorldFish Center – Philippine Office,
Khush Hall, IRRI College, Los Banos, Laguna
4031, Philippines.
Abstract
This global information system includes
specific references to non-native and invasive
species of fresh water and marine finfish
species. Information on the date and pathways
of introductions, as well as notes on impact, are
provided (where available).
FishBase was conceived in 1987 and
developed at the WorldFish Center in
collaboration with the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and
many other partners, and with support from the
European Commission (EC). At first distributed
on compact disc, it was Web enabled in 1996.
The creation of species profiles for all
fish, 28,500+ species, is among the plans for
future development, and they will include
information related to species invasiveness.
Present
Finfish introductions are documented in
FishBase (http://www.fishbase.org), a
global information system on finfish. This
database includes information on marine
and freshwater introductions, invasive as
well as non-invasive species, origin and
destination of the fish, date and reason for
the introduction, and establishment and
impact (when data are available).
Reports printed on demand from the
FishBase Web site include the list of
introduced species by country and a list of
species with reported adverse impacts. A
global introduction matrix is also available
that shows the magnitude of introductions
from and to different FAO areas or
geographic regions. Information is available
in reports showing the number of
introduction records and species involved.
Future
Future development of FishBase includes
expansion of the system to include species
profiles of all fish species (28,500+ to date).
A modified species profile will be provided
to include taxonomic information as well as
information related to species invasiveness
such as habitat, global distribution,
temperature and salinity ranges, and
species-specific diagnostics for
identification, general biological information,
reproduction or parental care, productivity,
and food requirements. Information such as
‘countries where species have been
introduced’ and references to related
databases can be automatically retrieved
from FishBase for all species (invasive,
newly introduced, and species that are
being considered for introduction).
Christine V. Casal
Experts Meeting Toward the Implementation of a Global
Invasive Species Information Network
Baltimore, Maryland 5-8 April 2004
Global Freshwater Fish Introductions
Reports available from the website.
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