Rapid expansion and biodiversity impacts of the red devil cichlid (Amphilophus labiatus, Günther 1864) in Lake Sentani, Papua, Indonesia

Ohee HL, Sujarta P, Br Surbakti S, Barclay H. 2018. Rapid expansion and biodiversity impacts of the red devil cichlid( Amphilophus labiatus, Gunther 1864) in Lake Sentani, Papua, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 2096-2103. The red devil cichlid( Amphilophus labiatus, Gunther 1864) is one of ten exotic fishspecies inhabiting Lake Sentani. It is believed to be one of the most important threats to the native fishof Lake Sentani. This study aimed to document the distribution of red devil cichlidsand the impacts of this species on native fishfauna. Fishwere sampled in six locations in Lake Sentani using gill nets during February and March 2018. Fishspecies and abundance were recorded and used to calculate the relative abundance, dominance, species evenness, Shannon Wiener Index(H’) and the correlation between introduced and native fishspecies. A total of 836 fishbelonging to 12 species were recorded across Lake Sentani. Mean fishdiversity (H’=0.57) and evenness (E= 0.25) were low. The red devil cichlidis the most abundant fishrecorded during our surveys (87.2% of total fishcollected) and is now the most dominant fishin the lake (C=0.76). Moreover, it has colonized all areas sampled within the lake because of its ability to colonize new habitat and to successfully exploit a large diversity of trophic niches. However, Amphilophus labiatuswas not found to be significantly correlated to native fishbetween different sites in Lake Sentani. The existence of endemic and native fishin Lake Sentani is now seriously threatened by the presence of the red devil cichlidthroughout this lake.