In the Anthropocene, non-native freshwater fish introductions and translocations have occurred extensively worldwide. However, their global distribution patterns and the factors influencing their establishment remain poorly understood. We analyze a comprehensive database of 14953 freshwater fish species across 3119 river basins and identify global hotspots for exotic and translocated non-native fishes. We show that both types of non-native fishes are more likely to occur when closely related to native fishes. This finding is consistent across measures of phylogenetic relatedness, biogeographical realms, and highly invaded countries, even after accounting for the influence of native diversity. This contradicts Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis, suggesting that the presence of close relatives more often signifies suitable habitats than intensified competition, predicting the establishment of non-native fish species. Our study provides a comprehensive assessment of global non-native freshwater fish patterns and their phylogenetic correlates, laying the groundwork for understanding and predicting future fish invasions in freshwater ecosystems.

Since Darwin's time, degree of ecological similarity between exotic and native species has been assumed to affect the establishment success or failure of exotic species. However, a direct test of the effect of exotic–native similarity on establishment of exotics is scarce because of the difficulty in recognizing failures of species to establish in the field. Here, using a database on the establishment success and failure of exotic fish species introduced into 673 freshwater lakes, we evaluate the effect of similarity on the establishment of exotic fishes by combining phylogenetic and functional information. We illustrate that, relative to other biotic and abiotic factors, exotic–native phylogenetic and functional similarities were the most important correlates of exotic fish establishment. While phylogenetic similarity between exotic and resident fish species promoted successful establishment, functional similarity led to failure of exotics to become established. Those exotic species phylogenetically close to, but functionally distant from, native fishes were most likely to establish successfully. Our findings provide a perspective to reconcile Darwin's naturalization conundrum and suggest that, while phylogenetic relatedness allows exotic fish species to pre‐adapt better to novel environments, they need to possess distinct functional traits to reduce competition with resident native fish species.

Understanding determinants of the invasiveness and ecological impacts of alien species is amongst the most sought-after and urgent research questions in ecology. Several studies have shown the value of comparing the functional responses (FRs) of alien and native predators towards native prey, however, the technique is under-explored with herbivorous alien species and as a predictor of invasiveness as distinct from ecological impact. Here, in China, we conducted a mesocosm experiment to compare the FRs among three herbivorous snail species: the golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata, a highly invasive and high impact alien listed in “100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species”; Planorbarius corneus, a non-invasive, low impact alien; and the Chinese native snail, Bellamya aeruginosa, when feeding on four locally occurring plant species. Further, by using a numerical response equation, we modelled the population dynamics of the snail consumers. For standard FR parameters, we found that the invasive and damaging alien snail had the highest “attack rates” a, shortest “handling times” h and also the highest estimated maximum feeding rates, 1/hT, whereas the native species had the lowest attack rates, longest handling times and lowest maximum feeding rates. The non-invasive, low impact alien species had consistently intermediate FR parameters. The invasive alien species had higher population growth potential than the native snail species, whilst that of the non-invasive alien species was intermediate. Thus, while the comparative FR approach has been proposed as a reliable method for predicting the ecological impacts of invasive predators, our results further suggest that comparative FRs could extend to predict the invasiveness and ecological impacts of alien herbivores and should be explored in other taxa and trophic groups to determine the general utility of the approach.

Non-native fish invasions are among the greatest threats to the sustainability of freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Tilapia and catfish are regularly cultured in South China which is similar to their climate in native areas and may also support their invasive potential. We systematically collected fish from eight main rivers of South China, from 2016 to 2018, to investigate and analyse species’ composition and the distribution of non-native fishes. The data reveal that non-native fishes are widespread and abundant in the sampled rivers: of the 98,887 fish collected, 11,832 individuals representing 20 species were not native, which were distributed in the 96% sampled sites. Of the non-native fish species, 17 are used in aquaculture and 19 are native to the tropics; 13 are omnivores while the other seven are predators. Based on dissimilarity of the non-native fish species distributions across the eight rivers, the different rivers could be divided into four assemblages. Geographical isolation and temperature were identified as affecting the distribution patterns of non-native fishes, thereby influencing fish species composition, species number, dominant species, and distribution variations in the South China rivers. Species composition of the non-native fishes in these rivers are related to their introduction vector, compatibility with their native habitat, and feeding strategies. Their distribution was mainly influenced by geographical location and temperature. To mitigate the impacts of non-native fish, a series of stricter management practices, systematic monitoring, and more research are needed.

Aim: The enemy release hypothesis (ERH) posits that exotic species suffer less enemy damage than natives, which promotes their successful invasion. However, the generality of less damage for exotics remains widely debated. A recent view proposes that enemy release (ER) could change systematically with latitude, potentially helping to explain these inconsistencies. Here, we test whether exotic plant species suffer consistently lower herbivore damage relative to natives and whether ER varies with latitude.Location: Global.Time period: 1960–2018.Major taxa studied: Plants.Methods: Using leaf herbivory data for 1,098 plant species, we compared the herbivory rate between exotic and native plants across all taxa, between the introduced and native range of exotic species and between exotic and native species co‐occurring in the same community. We tested the interaction effect between origin (exotic versus native) and latitude to assess variation in ER with latitude. We also examined whether the effect of origin and its interaction with latitude changed with plant growth form (woody versus non‐woody). Finally, based on two ER effect‐size datasets, two meta‐regressions were performed to demonstrate the relationship between ER and latitude.Results: Leaf herbivory rates were commonly lower for exotics than for natives. However, this differential herbivory rate was significant only for woody plants. No significant interactions were found between origin and latitude, indicating that ER did not change with latitude. The meta‐regressions also demonstrated that ER was not significantly correlated with latitude.Main conclusions: The widespread lower herbivory rate for exotic compared with native woody plant species supports the ERH for exotic woody plants. Consistent ER with latitude indicates that ER should play a similar role regardless of latitude. One future challenge is to assess the extent to which ER in woody exotic plants translates to performance advantages and thereby influences their invasion success.

Pomacea canaliculata is an important invasive species worldwide. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms behind species displacement, adaptational abilities, and pesticide resistance, partly because of the lack of genomic information that is available for this species. Here, the transcriptome sequences for the invasive golden apple snail P. canaliculata and the native mudsnail Cipangopaludina cahayensis were obtained by next-generation-sequencing and used to compare genomic divergence and identify molecular markers. More than 46 million high quality sequencing reads were generated from P. canaliculata and C. cahayensis using Illumina paired-end sequencing technology. Our analysis indicated that 11,312 unigenes from P. canaliculata and C. cahayensis showed significant similarities to known proteins families, among which a total of 4,320 specific protein families were identified. KEGG pathway enrichment was analyzed for the unique unigenes with 17 pathways (p-value < 10−5) in P. canaliculata relating predominantly to lysosomes and vitamin digestion and absorption, and with 12 identified in C. cahayensis, including cancer and toxoplasmosis pathways, respectively. Our analysis also indicated that the comparatively high number of P450 genes in the P. canaliculata transcriptome may be associated with the pesticide resistance in this species. Additionally, 16,717 simple sequence repeats derived from expressed sequence tags (EST-SSRs) were identified from the 14,722 unigenes in P. canaliculata and 100 of them were examined by PCR, revealing a species-specific molecular marker that could distinguish between the morphologically similar P. canaliculata and C. cahayensis snails. Here, we present the genomic resources of P. canaliculata and C. cahayensis. Differentially expressed genes in the transcriptome of P. canaliculata compared with C. cahayensis corresponded to critical metabolic pathways, and genes specifically related to environmental stress response were detected. The CYP4 family of P450 cytochromes that may be important factors in pesticide metabolism in P. canaliculata was identified. Overall, these findings will provide valuable genetic data for the further characterization of the molecular mechanisms that support the invasive and adaptive abilities of P. canaliculata.