An Intergeneric Hybrid of a Native Minnow, the Golden Shiner, and an Exotic Minnow, the Rudd

Feeding patterns and population structure of an invasive cyprinid, the rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae), in Buffalo Harbor (Lake Erie) and the upper Niagara River

“…The rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus (Linnaeus) is a Eurasian cyprinid that was introduced to North America during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century (Burkhead & Williams, 1991;Mills et al, 1993). The popularity of rudd as a bait minnow facilitated its spread to at least 21 states (Nico et al, 2010), and although reproducing populations became established, they did not reach nuisance levels and therefore received little attention from fisheries biologists (Burkhead & Williams, 1991).…”

“…The popularity of rudd as a bait minnow facilitated its spread to at least 21 states (Nico et al, 2010), and although reproducing populations became established, they did not reach nuisance levels and therefore received little attention from fisheries biologists (Burkhead & Williams, 1991). In New Zealand, however, rudd populations became abundant enough in several bodies of water to receive attention by researchers (Hicks, 2003).…”

“…Therefore, an abundant rudd population could negatively affect aquatic communities by altering macrophyte assemblages and accelerating internal nutrient loading (eutrophication) by means of remobilizing nutrients stored in sediments and macrophytes (Hansson et al, 1987;van Donk & Gulati, 1995;Vanni, 2002;Hicks, 2003;Nurminen et al, 2003). In addition, the rudd may affect aquatic communities by (1) creating novel trophic links that serve as contaminant pathways (a la Kwon et al, 2006), especially in an Area of Concern like the Niagara River (Environmental Protection Agency, 2009), (2) competing with native fishes for benthic invertebrate prey as juveniles (Crossman et al, 1992;Hicks, 2003), (3) spreading parasites, diseases, and viruses among native fishes (Popović et al, 2001;Schlueter, 2010), and (4) hybridizing with golden shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas (Mitchill) (Burkhead & Williams, 1991), thereby causing genomic extinction (i.e., the loss of local evolutionary lineages; Allendorf & Luikart, 2007).…”

Occurrence of Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus) and Dynamics of Three Populations in South Dakota

“…During the early 1980's, mdd experienced an explosive anthropogenic dispersal through the United States (Burkhead and Williams 1991). In the early 19901s, rudd were collected in several waters across South Dakota.…”

“…Hybridization between mdd and golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) is probable, and such hybridization could threaten the genetic integrity of golden shiners in areas where the two species may come in contact (Burkhead and Williams 1991). Hybridization between rudd and golden shiners is possible in South Dakota, as golden shiners are present in most South Dakota river drainages (Hoagstrom et al 2007), but natural hybridization has not been documented.…”