Online marketplaces as a global pathway for aquatic invaders

The ornamental aquarium pet trade is a leading pathway for the introduction of aquatic invasive species. In addition to purchasing live organisms in stores, hobbyists are engaging more with alternative informal online marketplaces that enable peer-to-peer selling of aquarium organisms via auctions. Although growing in popularity, little is known regarding the global extent of informal marketplaces, including the taxonomy of species that are traded, their economic value, and the geographic routes by which live organisms are transported. In this study we use an automated web crawler to collect data on completed auctions between 2011 and 2017 from the largest informal market for aquarium hobbyists, AquaBid, to understand the market dynamics and trade flows of the informal retail market online.

Olden, J.D., Whattam, E., and S.A. Wood. 2021. Online auction marketplaces as a global pathway for aquatic invasive species. Hydrobiologia 848: 1967-1979. Article.