A case study on the population ecology of a topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva) population in the UK and the implications for native fish communities

Abstract

ABSTRACT1. The topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva is a small Asian cyprinid species that has proved invasive throughout many European countries. Following an initial introduction into the wild in 1996, the species is now proving invasive in the UK, with at least 25 infested waters in England and Wales, of which 10 are known to have direct connection to a major river catchment.2. To demonstrate the threat of P. parva to fisheries in the UK, a case study is presented on a lake located in the Lake District of England where the species was introduced in 2000. The species rapidly established a breeding population that, by 2003, was the dominant species in size classes 570 mm. In 2004, they were the only species in the lake that produced young-of-the-year.3. Individual P. parva adopted the reproductive tactics of early maturity, multiple spawning, male dominance and male nest guarding; sexual dimorphism was manifested in larger body size of males. These traits were in contrast to the resident, native species of the lake, including roach Rutilus rutilus and gudgeon Gobio gobio, which adopted traits of later maturity and single spawning.4. This case study, therefore, revealed relatively rapid establishment of a P. parva population, their subsequent numerical dominance of the fish community, and the impediment of the recruitment of native fish. The implications for UK fisheries are concerning: should P. parva continue to disperse and individuals adopt similar traits as those in this case study, there may be few waters immune from their invasion, numerical dominance and subsequent impacts.

Change of fish fauna in ponds after eradication of invasive piscivorous largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, in north‐eastern Japan

“…Thus, the migration of topmouth minnow and freshwater goby is considered to be much more likely than that of crucian carp. Moreover, topmouth minnow showed a dramatic increase in number and tended to easily dominate the community in a non-native environment (Britton et al, 2007(Britton et al, , 2010, and the alien rose bitterling increased dramatically but dominated only in the treatment ponds. Since all three species (topmouth minnow, rose bitterling and crucian carp) are of similar size and are omnivorous nekton, and the freshwater goby is also an omnivorous species (Miyadi et al, 1976), it is considered that interspecific competition exists among these fish.…”

Impact of topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva) on production of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) — question of natural food structure

“…High invasive ability of P. parva is a result of its life history and its other successful ecological strategies (Katano & Maekawa 1997;Rosecchi et al 2001;Gozlan et al 2002;Pinder et al 2005;Beyer et al 2007;Britton et al 2007Britton et al , 2008Yan & Chen 2009;Záhorská & Kováč 2009;Gozlan et al 2010).…”

Towards the successful control of the invasive Pseudorasbora parva in the UK

“…In established lentic populations, they tend to dominate the fish community by forming dense populations [60 m -2 that numerically comprise [95% of the fish community, provoking concerns of increased resource competition with native fishes (Britton et al 2007(Britton et al , 2008. The species has also been identified as the healthy host of a novel fish pathogen to Europe, an obligate intra-cellular eukaryote pathogen, similar to the lethal rosette agent Sphaerothecum destruens .…”

“…Most sites are lakes of \5 ha used for recreational angling, with introduction occurring accidentally through the stocking of contaminated batches of fish (Britton et al 2007). In established lentic populations, they tend to dominate the fish community by forming dense populations [60 m -2 that numerically comprise [95% of the fish community, provoking concerns of increased resource competition with native fishes (Britton et al 2007(Britton et al , 2008.…”