Ecologists raise alarm over releases mosquito killing
guppies (10/25/16)<http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/10/ecologists-raise-alarm-over-releases-mosquito-killing-guppies>
The little guppy Poecilia reticulata has developed a big
reputation. For decades, the fish has been championed as a mosquito fighter and
dumped into ponds and ditches to eat up the insect’s larvae. But among
scientists, it has a different reputation—as an invasive species with a
remarkable ability to reproduce and spread. Now, as health officials in regions
facing mosquito-borne viruses like Zika consider expanding use of these
predatory fish, ecologists are urging them to think twice. In a paper published
online today in Biology Letters<http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/lookup/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0590>,
a group of ecologists argues that the guppies—and other nonnative fish used for
mosquito control—haven’t actually proven very effective mosquito fighters, but
are known to pose ecological risks….
