Florida’s Biosecurity Failings Threaten Caribbean Reptiles

New community science reports show that the Peters’s Rock Agama (Agama picticauda) is spreading from Florida and has reached the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands, undoubtedly carried as stowaways on outbound vessels. A group of Caribbean-based biologists and conservationists are expressing their deep concern because this region is a biodiversity hotpot with thousands of unique, endemic species, over 1,500 of which are already at high risk of extinction.

iNaturalist observation 37604254; https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37604254


In their letter to the journal Animal Conservation, the authors identify nearly 50 native reptile species (among which many species of Anolis) that could be impacted if the agama becomes established across the Eastern Caribbean. Given that it is known to capture prey up to at least 5 cm snout-vent length, many species are at risk of being eaten by the agamas; even large native lizards are likely to experience competition and displacement given the agama’s aggressive behaviours.

The authors advise scientists, conservationists, policy makers, veterinarians and border control agencies to be on high alert for incursions by Peters’s Rock Agamas and other non-native reptiles. They further urge the transport sector – especially those operating out of Florida – to be on the lookout for the agama and to take swift measures to remove them.

The letter has been published in Animal Conservation: M.P. van den Burg et al.: The threat of Peters’s Rock Agama (Agama picticauda) to reptile diversity across the Lesser Antilles. Animal Conservation 2023, 12889. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12889

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1 Comment

  1. Armando Pou

    I’m happy to see this topic come up in a true scientific platform. It does need actual scientific study, and I look forward to feedback. In Florida it has become a political issue with little to no scientific study. Conclusions are drawn from visceral reactions.
    I theorize that development and the creation of disturbed habitats in the Bahamas are the leading causes for the demise of many Bahamian species. Additionally, if you have ever traveled through the many Bahamian islands a common resident in most are feral cats and chickens which are undoubtedly more destructive to native anoles as any non native reptiles. Additionally a large portion of the flora species on the islands is also non endemic which facilitates niche habitats for non-native animals. From their numbers, one would think that Australian Pines (Casuarina equisetifolia) was native to the Bahamas.
    Armando

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