Species that are considered uncertain risk need a more in-depth assessment beyond the Risk Summary to better define the species’ risk to U.S. environments.
Helostoma temminckii, the Kissing Gourami, is a freshwater fish species native to Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. It has become established on the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and Bali, Singapore, the Philippines, and Colombia through aquaculture escape. Some nonnative populations of H. temminckii dominate native fish communities. Potential negative impacts of H. temminckii have been discussed in the scientific literature, but no specific negative impacts have been documented. It is used in the aquarium trade and as a food fish outside of the United States, and in the aquarium trade within the United States. H. teminickii has a low climate match with the contiguous United States, with only small areas of medium match in southern Florida, southern Louisiana, and southeast Texas. It has been collected from Florida, but populations there failed. Certainty of this assessment is low because further information is needed to adequately assess the risk this species poses to the United States. The overall risk assessment category is Uncertain.
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Uncertain Risk
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