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DFW intern finds out no one knows where invasive species on Saipan come from
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Posted on Aug 31 2008
A student from the University of California Santa Barbara who has just completed his internship with the Division of Fish and Wildlife said he found out “no one really has any idea” where the invasive species they have discovered on Saipan came from.
During the two-month training program, Philip Johnson, along with his mentor from the DFW, visited different areas to collect samples on both highly impacted and pristine waters.
The team used three simple or traditional methods such as minnow trap, dip net and electro fishing.
The pristine sites they have sampled were Telefofo, Tanapag Hills and Kagman while the modified sites included Costoo Marsh, Lake Susupe, Dai-Ichi Drainage, Coral Ocean Point golf course, and the Marianas Country Club golf course.
Johnson is one of 10 students who have just completed the annual summer coral reef initiative internship program jointly hosted by the Division of Environmental Quality, Coastal Resources Management and DFW.
The list of invasive species they found on the sites included sailfin mollies (poecilla latipinna), Tilapia (mossam bicus, Zilfi), milkfish (chanos chanos), and ramshorn snail (planorbidae).
Johnson said most of the tilapia species were located on the golf course.
“The amazing thing is that when we asked the golf owners how those tilapia arrived at the ponds, they said they don’t really know how,” Johnson said during his power point presentation.
His team also listed the native species they have found. These were shrimp (Atyid sp; Macrobrachuim sp), marine toad (bufo marinus), tarpon (megalops cypinoides), rock flagtail (kuhlia ruprestris), and gobies.
