Alien Fish Species in France with Emphasis on the Recent Invasion of Gobies

Abstract

Introduction of alien species constitutes worldwide one of the major threats to biodiversity, particularly in freshwater ecosystems. In France, the number of alien aquatic plant and animal species has increased exponentially over time in freshwater ecosystems and shows no sign of decreasing. For fish only, more than 40 alien species have been either voluntary or involuntary introduced in the past decades. About two-thirds are still present today and at least 26 are naturalized. As in many European countries, the fish introduction history in France switched from voluntary introduction in the nineteenth century (aquaculture, sport fishing, and management of ecosystems) to unintentional but humanaided introductions (aquarium trade and global ship transport). The negative impacts of alien species on native species and ecosystems are most often unknown in France and needs further studies to develop a functional policy on alien species introductions and the protection of aquatic ecosystems integrity. The information gathered allow discussing the possible reasons explaining whether an alien species is able or not to establish sustainable populations in France and thereafter became invasive, such as gobies recently arrived.

Sperm performance limits the reproduction of an invasive fish in novel salinities

“…Black arrows show possible routes of introduction into the Baltic Sea and Western Europe. The map is compiled from multiple sources (Hempel, 2017; Kornis et al., 2012; Kvach, 2014; Manné et al., 2013; Mastitsky et al., 2010; Puntila et al., 2018; Teletchea & Beisel, 2018; Vassilev et al., 2012). Also note that the species is introduced and widely spread in the North American Great Lakes (freshwater).…”

Distribution and ecological status of alien fish species in the Karun River Basin, Iran

“…Prussian carp have unique reproductive traits partly explaining their competitive advantage. They have eggs that can be induced by sperms of other cyprinid species, allowing the production of offspring in the absence of conspeci c males (Cucherousset et al, 2008; El-Matbouli and Soliman, 2011; Veer and Nentwig, 2015; Teletchea and Beisel, 2018). Given that a substantial trade of this species as a decorative sh is ongoing, this species is still being traded in Iran, so managers and authorities in Iran should be mindful of its potential environmental impacts (Veer and Nentwig 2015).…”

Morphological and molecular data show no evidence of the proposed replacement of endemic Pomphorhynchus tereticollis by invasive P. laevis in salmonids in southern Germany

“…The round goby acts as a paratenic host for the parasite [4], but parasites can further develop and reproduce after predation of gobies by a piscivourous final hosts [4,29]. The front of the upstream migration of the round goby in the Rhine of Baden-Württemberg occurred already around 2011-2014 [50,51] and current census data of the round goby show the species is currently abundant in the Rhine and Neckar [37]. Indeed, Hohenadler et al [15] has shown that P. laevis is in the process of replacing the endemic P. tereticollis in eels captured from the High Rhine.…”