Publication details
Parasites of bighead goby Neogobius kessleri in their native and non-native area of distribution
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2006 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | XIth International Congress of Parasitologists |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Ecology |
| Keywords | bighead goby; parasites; distribution |
| Description | Over the last decade, four species of goby fishes have invaded the Middle Danube area. Introduced populations of bighhead goby Neogobius kessleri appeared in Middle Danube in the early 1990s and have spread rapidly. Escapement from the effects of natural predators and parasites is a frequent explanation given for the success of invasive species. Therefore, communities of metazoan parasites of 5 bighead goby populations were studied, representing native (two Bulgarian), longstanding non-native (Croatian) and very recent (Austrian and Slovak section of the Danube River, Europe) areas of bighead goby distribution. Component community richness ranged from 11 (Croatian) to 15 (Austrian), but did not differ among localities. Half of all parasite species was found in both native and non-native area; more exclusive species occurred in introduced fish populations. The total species richness was higher in non-native populations, which supported mostly wide-ranged parasite species. Our results showed that gobies introduced into new areas in the same river system harbour common and widely distributed parasites in high abundances. The total parasite abundance did not significantly differ among five populations studied. Generally, goby fish served mostly as intermediate (digenean, cestodes and nematodes) or paratenic (acanthocephalan and nematodes) hosts. Increasing density and progressive spread of the bighead goby infected by numbers of larval parasites support parasite dispersal into new areas in relatively high abundances. |
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