Ecological impacts of common carp and the African sharptooth catfish: A review

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) have been introduced worldwide for aquaculture. In their novel areas, ecological impacts, arising from their benthivorous and predatory feeding behaviour, have been reported for each separately. Based on these, conflicting regulatory frameworks have been devised in some countries to control their spread in order to preserve native biodiversity. Anecdotal field observations in Malawi suggest that these fishes might impose similar ecological impacts. This paper reviews literature on ecological impacts of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) with a view to (1) identify the ecological impacts reported for these benthivorous fishes, (2) expose ecological impacts that appear common between these fishes, and (3) suggest potential areas of practical research to compare the ecological impacts of these benthivorous fishes.