<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:contributor>Jessica Schulte</dc:contributor>
  <dc:creator>Pamela J. Schofield</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>2016</dc:date>
  <dc:description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt; &lt;span class="tn"&gt;&lt;span class="genus"&gt;Trichopsis&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="species"&gt;vittata&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/i&gt; (Cuvier, 1831) is a small, freshwater gourami (Fam: &lt;span class="tn"&gt;Osphronemidae&lt;/span&gt;) native to southeast Asia. It was first detected in Florida in the 1970s and seems to have persisted for decades in a small area. In this study, we documented &lt;i&gt;&lt;span class="tn"&gt;&lt;span class="genus"&gt;T.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="species"&gt;vittata&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&amp;rsquo;s ecophysiological tolerances (salinity and low-temperature) and qualitatively compared them to published values for other sympatric non-native species that have successfully invaded much of the Florida peninsula. &lt;i&gt;&lt;span class="tn"&gt;&lt;span class="genus"&gt;Trichopsis&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="species"&gt;vittata&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt; survived acute salinity shifts to 16 psu and was able to survive up to 20 psu when salinity was raised more slowly (5 psu per week). In a cold-tolerance experiment, temperature was lowered from 24 &amp;deg;C at 1 &amp;deg;C hr&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; until fish died. Mean temperature at death (i.e., lower lethal limit) was 7.2 &amp;deg;C. &lt;i&gt;&lt;span class="tn"&gt;&lt;span class="genus"&gt;Trichopsis&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="species"&gt;vittata&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt; seems as tolerant or more tolerant than many other sympatric non-native fishes for the variables we examined. However, &lt;i&gt;&lt;span class="tn"&gt;&lt;span class="genus"&gt;T.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="species"&gt;vittata&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt; is the only species that has not dispersed since its introduction. Species other than &lt;i&gt;&lt;span class="tn"&gt;&lt;span class="genus"&gt;T.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="species"&gt;vittata&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt; have broadly invaded ranges, many of which include the entire lower third of the Florida peninsula. It is possible that tolerance to environmental parameters serves as a filter for establishment, wherein candidate species must possess the ability to survive abiotic extremes as a first step. However, a species&amp;rsquo; ability to expand its geographic range may ultimately rely on a secondary set of criteria including biotic interactions and life-history variables.&lt;/p&gt;</dc:description>
  <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
  <dc:identifier>10.3897/neobiota.28.5259</dc:identifier>
  <dc:language>en</dc:language>
  <dc:publisher>PenSoft</dc:publisher>
  <dc:title>Small but tough: What can ecophysiology of croaking gourami &lt;i&gt;Trichopsis vittatus&lt;/i&gt; (Cuvier 1831) tell us about invasiveness of non-native fishes in Florida?</dc:title>
  <dc:type>article</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>