Lessons not learnt even after witnessing ample disasters

Recent reports from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and NaturalResources (IUCN) have clearly establishedthe deleterious role of invasive alien specieson global species extinction. Especiallythe invasion of alien species in the aquaticecosystem poses a serious threat to globalaquatic diversity, in particular the exoticornamental fishes emerging as a greatchallenge to the native population. Earlierstudies in several parts of India reportedthe occurrence of 27 exotic ornamentalfish species in different inland wetlands.Among them, 15 species have alarminglyestablished their population in the wild.The National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai,has declared seven exotic ornamentalfishes as invasive to Indian inland wetlands.Obviously, the suckermouth catfish (tankcleaner) (Figure 1), reported even in remotevillage ponds of India, clearly indicatesthe invasion potential of the exoticornamental fishes1–3 © 2021, Current Science. All Rights Reserved.