A review of Gobiid expansion along the Danube-Rhine corridor – geopolitical change as a driver for invasion

The diet of reservoir perch before, during and after establishment of non-native tubenose goby

“…The Ponto-Caspian tubenose goby (Proterorhinus semilunaris) was first recorded in the Czech Republic in 1994 in the Musov reservoir (Lusk and Halačka, 1995), part of the Nové Mlyny reservoir system on the River Dyje (Danube basin), more than 100 km from its known limit of distribution at the Austrian/Slovak border on the River Danube (Lelek, 1987;Roche et al, 2013). The most probable origin of these fish appears to be as live baitfish introduced by anglers from Danubian waters.…”

A New Species of the Gobiidae Family in Transylvania Waters: Racer Goby (Babka gymnotrachelus, Kessler 1857)

“…These determinations can establish a basis for fish species assessment keys, as is in the case of gobies, which morphologically greatly resemble one another, even though there are presently known over 170 species (Thacker and Roje, 2011). On this line, we supplemented the previous data with the next determinations:pre-dorsal length 1 (Pr-dL1) [18], post-dorsal length 1 (PodL1) [19], pre-dorsal length 2 (Pr-dL2) [20], post-dorsal length 2 (Po-dL2) [21], pre-pectoral length (Pr-pL) [22], post-pectoral length (Po-pL) [23], pre-ventral length (Pr-vL) [24] Note: SML-scales on median line; D1-dorsal fin 1; D2-dorsal fin 2; P-pectoral fin; V-ventral fin; A-anal fin After analyzing all the biometric data, it was concluded that the fin sizes are larger (compared to other fish species) when reported to the body size. Besides the physiological aspects, including the adaptation to fresh water, this aspect helps the species in adapting to various environment circumstances, from shallow and stagnant waters to high water flow rivers.…”

“…Discrepant or unsubstantiated information regarding the presence ofBabka gymnotrachelus species in some territories (Roche et al, 2013) and mistakento different species occasionally occurs in scientific literature. Regarding the westward migration dynamics, the species was found in Yugoslavia in 1991 (Hegedis et al, 1991).…”

“…The racer goby is reported in the German Danube in September of 2011, near the town of Regensburg (Haertl et al, 2012). Furthermore, the species was recorded in the same year in the Rhine (Borcherding et al, 2011), but further analysis concludes that the sampled specimens were erroneously identified, being in fact either monkey gobies, either hybrids.The species shows up remotely in Austria and Germany, neighboring urban centers and industrial harbors (Roche et al, 2013), hence being presumed that it was accidentally transported along with ballast water in ship tanks. Additionally, the studies on the German and Austrian Danube course were conducted on the navigation channel, but the species prefers shallow, muddy waters, which was why it was found only in some areas (Haertl et al, 2012).…”

First report of metacercariae of Cyathocotyle prussica parasitising a fish host in the Czech Republic, Central Europe

“…Despite intensive examination of fi sh parasites in the Czech Republic for more than 60 years (Moravec, 2001), metacercariae of C. prussica have remained unnoticed, probably due to the low importance of fi sh in this parasite's life-cycle or the absence of competent fi sh host species. As tubenose gobies become established in new locations around Europe (Roche et al, 2013), the importance of this demersal fi sh as an intermediate host in the life-cycle of this parasite is likely to increase.…”