First record of the western tubenose gobyProterorhinus semilunaris(Heckel, 1837) in France

Abstract

Western tubenose gobies were captured for the first time in France in the Rhine River in September 2007. This species, originating from the PontoCaspian basin and considered as invasive in many countries, has colonised the Rhine drainage using the Rhine-Main-Danube canal. RÉSUMÉ Première observation du gobie demi-lune Proterorhinus semilunaris (Heckel, 1837) en FranceDes gobies demi-lune ont été capturés pour la première fois en France dans le Rhin en septembre 2007. Cette espèce, originaire du bassin Ponto-Caspien et considérée comme invasive dans plusieurs pays, a colonisé le bassin du Rhin en passant par le canal Rhin-Main-Danube.

Further studies of mitochondrial genome variability in Ponto-Caspian <I>Proterorhinus</I> species (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Gobiidae) and their taxonomic implications

“…Consequently, these tubenose gobies could spread from the Dnieper River basin through Severo-Krymskyi channel connected the Dnieper River and Crimean freshwaters and then widely distributed through smaller channels. It should be mentioned that P. semilunaris is characterized by rapid colonization of new habitats (Naseka et al 2005, Prášek and Jurajda 2005, Manné and Poulet 2008. Another possible source of the penetration of north-western gobies in Crimean Peninsula could be an accidental introduction caused by acts on acclimatization of economic-valuable fishes in Crimean reservoirs.…”

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

“…The fact that the species appeared in the downstream stretch of the Rhine before being found further upstream near the RMDC strongly suggests that the species was introduced, probably via ship to Duisburg (Duisburg is the largest inland sea-port in the world, handling seagoing river vessels not only from Europe but also from around the world). In 2005, the species was reported from the German stretch of the River Moselle (von Landwüst, 2006) and along the French bank of the channelised Rhine in 2007 (Manné and Poulet, 2008). Finally, it was reported from Flanders (Belgium) in 2010, in a canal connected to the Border Meuse, having dispersed there from the Netherlands (Cammaerts et al, 2012).…”

Colonisation of the Rhine basin by non-native gobiids: an update of the situation in France

“…The first signs of spread were observed around 1970 when it went up the Danube River up to Linz (Ahnelt et al, 1998), reaching Germany in 1985 (Harka and Biro, 2007), and finally joining the Rhine basin in 1999 (Figure 1a), in the Main River (Reinartz et al, 2000;Schadt, 2000) probably using the Main-Danube Canal built in 1992. The Western tubenose goby was the first one to reach the French part of the Rhine in 2007 (Manné and Poulet, 2008), after reaching the Netherlands in 2002 (Kottelat and Freyhof, 2007). Now, it is recorded in the Meuse basin up to Lixhe (Cammaerts et al, 2012).…”