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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Ecosystem Ecology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1438895
This article is part of the Research Topic Biological Invasions in Aquatic Ecosystems: Detection, Assessment and Countermeasures View all 10 articles

The Hulong hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus♀×Epinephelus lanceolatus♂) has invaded the coastal waters of Hainan Island, China

Provisionally accepted
Xiang Zhang Xiang Zhang 1*Jianlong Li Jianlong Li 1Sizhu Chen Sizhu Chen 1Qingyan Yang Qingyan Yang 1Fei Ji Fei Ji 2Huigui Luo Huigui Luo 1Shaoxiong Ding Shaoxiong Ding 3*
  • 1 Hainan University, Haikou, China
  • 2 Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Hainan Province, Haikou, Hainan Province, China
  • 3 Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Nowadays, various types of hybrid groupers have been successfully applied in the mariculture industry in the southwest Pacific coastal area, raising public concern about potential biological invasions. As the earliest produced hybrid grouper with the highest yield worldwide, the Hulong hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus♀× Epinephelus lanceolatus♂, also known as the Sabah grouper) was first produced in Malaysia in 2007 and subsequently developed in mainland China in 2009. With the development of the breeding and mariculture industry of the Hulong hybrid grouper on Hainan Island, escapees have been sighted in the coastal waters of Hainan Island for years. Their current distribution includes all the coastal waters of Hainan Island, with a preference for inshore reef and artificial structure areas. Based on social investigations and specimen collections, this species has been continuously present for at least 12 years in multiple locations. The growth and gonadal development status of this hybrid grouper indicate the long-term survival and population establishment of the Hulong hybrid grouper in the wild. The mechanisms of their introduction include unintentional escapees from the aquaculture industry as well as intentional releases. This study documents the first artificial hybrid marine fish to invade and establish a population in the wild. The negative ecological impacts of the Hulong hybrid grouper on the biodiversity and ecosystem such as interspecies competition, disease transmission and genetic pollution were further discussed.

    Keywords: Biological invasion, artificial hybrid fish, Hulong hybrid grouper, Introduced population, Hainan Island

    Received: 26 May 2024; Accepted: 10 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Li, Chen, Yang, Ji, Luo and Ding. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xiang Zhang, Hainan University, Haikou, China
    Shaoxiong Ding, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian Province, China

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