A comparative study of three fishery methods for sampling the invasive topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva) in ponds

Abstract

Invasive fish threaten ponds' ecological status and their ecosystem services, therefore obtaining a representative sample of fish community composition is fundamental to fishery management, research and nature conservation. Estimates of the size distribution, density and biomass of the topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva) model species of invasive fish in three ponds were compared among three sampling methods: electrofishing, fish‐trapping and throw‐netting. The study illustrates that the invasive fish, P. parva, can be detected by all tested fishing methods, yet our results clearly showed that there are pronounced differences among methods in population characteristic estimates. Electrofishing and throw‐netting gave biased information on the size distribution of P. parva. Fish‐trapping and throw‐netting gave reasonable P. parva density and biomass estimates, while electrofishing clearly underestimated it. All tested methods showed a body size increment of P. parva between summer and autumn sampling sessions, yet neither throw‐netting nor electrofishing recorded an increment in its density. Our study showed that fish‐trapping is the most reliable and affordable method to estimate invasive P. parva population characteristics in ponds despite more time‐demanding sampling. The success depends on the mesh size of sampling gear, operator skill and habitat structure. The cost‐effectiveness of the selected methods and the importance of invasive fish monitoring in ponds is discussed. The sampling gear must be considered carefully according to the aim of the monitoring.