Does taxonomic distinctiveness predict fish invasions?
Ricciardi, Anthony*,1, Mottiar, Miriam1, 1 McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada ABSTRACT- Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis predicts that introduced species generally do not to invade areas containing native species belonging to the same genus; otherwise, they would compete with their close relatives and likely encounter predators and pathogens that can attack them. An opposing view is that introduced species should succeed in areas where native congeners are present because they are more likely to share traits that pre-adapt them to the new environment. A test of both these hypotheses using data for successful and failed fish introductions in ten independent regions does not support either viewpoint. This contrasts with recent studies that support either Darwin’s hypothesis or the pre-adaptation hypothesis for introduced plants in various regions. Our results suggest that taxonomic distinctiveness is not an important predictor of fish invasion success. However, it may be a pre
