Hydrobiologia 394: 233-248, 1999 © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands Ecological effects of the mass occurrence of the Ponto-Caspian invader, Hemimysis anomala G.O. Sars, 1907 (Crustacea: Mysidacea), in a freshwater storage reservoir in the Netherlands, with notes on its autecology and new records Ketelaars H.A.M.1,*, F.E. Lambregts-van de Clundert1, C.J. Carpentier1, A.J. Wagenvoort1 & W. Hoogenboezem2 1Biological Laboratory, Water Storage Company Brabantse Biesbosch, P.O. Box 61, NL-4250 DB Werkendam, The Netherlands 2PWN Water Supply Company North Holland, P.O. Box 5, NL-2060 BA Bloemendaal, The Netherlands E-mail:
[email protected] (*author for correspondence) Received 12 December 1998; in revised form 2 February 1999; accepted 25 February 1999 Key words: Hemimysis anomala, Mysidacea, exotic species, Ponto-Caspian, biological invasion, ecological effects Abstract A new Ponto-Caspian invader, the mysid Hemimysis anomala G.O. Sars, 1907 (Crustacea: Mysidacea) was recorded for the first time in the Netherlands in 1997. In the summer of 1998 extremely high den- sities (>6 ind. 1-1) of this neozoon were recorded in one of the Biesbosch reservoirs (Honderd en Dertig). This high abundance can not be explained by a recent invasion. Either H. anomala reached the Nether- lands via the River Rhine, probably aided by shipping, or through transport with ballast water from the Baltic or Black Sea. The invasion had dramatic effects on the zooplankton composition and abundance: from the end of August onwards hardly any Anomopoda, Ostracoda, Rotifera and invertebrate predators (Leptodora kindti and Bythotrephes longimanus) were present.