An isolated round goby population in the upper Elbe: population characteristics and short-term impacts on the native fish assemblage

0519430 - ÚBO 2020 RIV FI eng J - Journal Article
Janáč, Michal - Jurajdová, Zdenka - Roche, Kevin Francis - Šlapanský, Luděk - Jurajda, Pavel
An isolated round goby population in the upper Elbe: population characteristics and short-term impacts on the native fish assemblage.
Aquatic Invasions. Roč. 14, č. 4 (2019), s. 738-757. ISSN 1798-6540. E-ISSN 1818-5487
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GBP505/12/G112
Institutional support: RVO:68081766
Keywords : Biological invasions * Biotic resistance * Case-specific impact * Drift * Ponto-Caspian gobiids * Shipping
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 1.856, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Open access

The round goby Neogobius melanostomus is a small invasive benthic fish that has caused multiple and variable impacts in freshwaters. One of the most recent round goby introductions occurred in the upper Elbe in 2015. In this case, the new population was isolated from other populations both by land and by at least 600 river km. Monitoring of this population has provided a unique opportunity to describe the characteristics of round gobies naturally spreading from a single introduction point and to examine its effects on native fish. Passive downstream dispersal of early life stages has played a central role in population spread, with the proportion of small fish increasing downstream and decreasing with time. The sex ratio of the novel population was strongly female-biased and with no apparent spatial structure. Round goby introduction appears to have had a negative impact on native 0+ fish abundance and species richness. Relationships with ≥ 1+ fish were more diverse, ranging from a significant decrease in chub Squalius cephalus abundance to a significant increase in European eel Anguilla anguilla abundance as goby abundance increased. As no impacts on these species have been reported before, the study appears to provide further evidence for case-specificity in round goby impact.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0304411