A piscicide is a

chemical substance A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

which is

poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

ous to

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

. The primary use for piscicides is to eliminate a dominant species of fish in a body of water, as the first step in attempting to populate the body of water with a different fish. They are also used to combat

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

and

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

of fish. Examples of piscicides include

rotenone Rotenone is an odorless, colorless, crystalline isoflavone used as a broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide, and pesticide. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of several plants, such as the jicama vine plant, and the roots of several mem ...

saponin Saponins (Latin "sapon", soap + "-in", one of), also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed ...

s, TFM,

niclosamide Niclosamide, sold under the brand name Niclocide among others, is an anthelmintic medication used to treat tapeworm infestations, including diphyllobothriasis, hymenolepiasis, and taeniasis. It is not effective against other worms such as flukes ...

and Antimycin A (Fintrol).Susan J. Clearwater, Chris W. Hickey, Michael L. Martin
Overview of potential piscicides and molluscicides for controlling aquatic pest species in New Zealand
' Science & Technical Publishing 2008

Plant-based piscicides

Historically, fishing techniques of indigenous people around the world have frequently included the use of plant-based piscicides. Many of these plants are natural sources of rotenone and saponins. The

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

'' Tephrosia'', ''

Wikstroemia ''Wikstroemia'' is a genus of 55-70 species of flowering shrubs and small trees in the mezereon family, Thymelaeaceae. Hawaiian species are known by the common name ‘ākia. Medicinal uses '' Wikstroemia indica'' () is one of the 50 fundamental ...

'', and '' Barringtonia'' are well known as

fish poisons Fish toxins or fish stupefying plants have historically been used by many hunter gatherer cultures to stun fish, so they become easy to collect by hand. Some of these toxins paralyse fish, which can then be easily collected. The process of docume ...

References

Pesticides Fisheries science {{fish-stub

Plant-based piscicides

See also

References