The Preliminary Results of Contemporary Investigations of Fish Diversity in the Amur Basin: Species Structure on the Boundary of XX-XXI Centuries

The preliminary results of contemporary investigations of fish diversity in the Amur Basin: species structure on the boundary of XX-XXI centuries

Novomodnyy G.V. Khabarovsk Branch Pacific Research Fisheries Centre. [email protected], [email protected]

In 2001 the author begun the phonographic (Digital-Photo) and museum collection of the Amur River fishes. Current findings on the species diversity of the Amur River underlie in this work (foremost Annotated Check-List of Cyclostomata and Fishes of the Continental Waters of Russia (1998); Fauna Sinica Osteichthys: Cypriniformes (1998 end 2000), Siluriformes (1999); Description of species inhabiting the Heilongjiang Province (1995); revision of loaches made by Vasili’eva (2001). Results of expeditions carried by author in 2001-2002: • discovery of Rhodeus ocellatus in waters of the Amur River (the Kiya River belonging to the Ussuri and the Bira River belonging to the Middle Amur basin). • discovery of twin species, hiding under taxons Acanthorhodeus asmussii and Acanthorhodeus chankaensis (species derived from the group “chankaensis”= A. gracilis (Korea), second species in the group “asmussii” is possibly A.macropterus. • discovery of Lefua costata in the Khor River (the Ussuri Basin) Ladislavia taczanowskii the Kiya, Khor, Bolshaya Ussurka, Anuy (The Lower Amur); Micropercops cinctus and Paramisgurnus dabrianus near Khabarovsk city; Misgurnus anguillicaudatus in the Sungari basin (these fishes bought alive on the market in Harbin with other species of loach); • information: where? when? and what fishing gear? to catch species • new data about some species abundance that were be consider as rare. • collection of own digital photos of 88 species from the Amur River made in vital staining Own investigations, analysis of scientific sources, help of colleagues allowed to count 133 species in the Amur basin (including brackish waters of the Amur Estuary) (Table 1). With this 26 species were included to «Annotated Check-List…», one species Sarcocheilichthys soldatovi was deleted from this list. Approximately 18 species were introduced in the Amur by man: the introduction of 6 species was intentional; 13 species from 18 were acclimatized, 7 species were distributed outside waters of allocation. The development of artificial propagation in the Ussuri basin changes the list of species introduced in the Amur River. The list of the Amur River species includes also 7 marine and 1 euryhaline species. 7 anadromous species run occasionally in the Amur River. 8 species from the list don’t exist in Russian waters. The existence of 4 species is disputable. Now the Khabarovsk Branch of Pacific Research Fisheries Center intensified the faunal investigations. Almost all scientists working on rivers of the Khabarovsk Territory are brought to collect the Amur Basin species. Thanks to Sergey Zolotukhin for constant help to catch this collection. We thanks also Alexander Antonov (Institute of Water Problems, Khabarovsk), Mikhail Skopets (Wild Salmon Center, Portland), Igor Frolov (Department of Fisheries of the Khabarovsk Territory), Sergei Mokrov (Fish Conservation Inspection of Birobizhan) for investigation of mountainous rivers of the Khabarovsk Territory. We offer special thanks to university-fellow Sergey Shedko (Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Vladivostok) as a high professional opponent of author's too fast deductions.

1 Table 1. List of 133 species inhabiting or probably inhabiting fresh and brackish waters of the Amur basin in 2002 (including introduced, brackish water, marine and occasionally migrating anadromous species) Families – num- Species Comment Megalobrama skolkovii (Dybowsky, 1872) D ber of species Parabramis pekinensis (Basilewsky, 1855) D Acipenseridae – 5 Acipenser baerii Brandt, 1869 +Ii(-) Phoxinus czekanowskii Dybowski, 1869 ?D Acipenser medirostris Ayres, 1854 A(-) Phoxinus lagowskii Dybowski, 1869 D Acipenser ruthenus Linnaeus, 1758 +I(-) Phoxinus oxycephalus Sauvage et Dabry de D Acipenser schrenckii Brandt, 1869 D Thiersant, 1874 Huso dauricus (Georgi, 1775) D Phoxinus perenurus (Pallas, 1814) D Bagridae – 5 Leiocassis argentivittatus (Regan, 1905) D Phoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758) D Pelteobagrus fulvidraco (Richardson, 1846) D Pseudaspius leptocephalus (Pallas, 1776) D Pelteobagrus nitidus (Sauvage et Dabry, D Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus, 1758) +Isi(+)CD 1874) Tribolodon hakuensis (Guenther, 1877) A(-)D ?Pseudobagrus herzensteini (Berg, 1907) D Cyprinidae – Aphyocypris chinensis Guenther, 1868 C Pseudobagrus ussuriensis (Dybowski, 1872) D Rasborinae – 4 Ochetobius elongatus (Kner, 1867) I(-)K Balitoridae – 2 Barbatula toni (Dybowski, 1869) D Opsariichthys uncirostris (Temminck et D Lefua costata (Kessler, 1876) D Schlegel, 1846) Belontiidae – 1 Macropodus chinensis (Bloch, 1790) +?I(+)CR Zacco platypus (Temmick et Schlegel, 1846) +C Channidae – 1 Channa argus (Cantor, 1842) D Cyprinidae – Plagiognathops microlepis (Bleeker, 1871) KC Cobitidae – 8 Cobitis choii Kim et Son, 1984 D Xenocyprininae – Pseudobrama simioni (Bleeker, 1864) +C Cobitis lutheri Rendahl, 1935 D 3 Xenocypris argentea (Basilewsky, 1855) D Cobitis melanoleuca Nichols, 1925 D Eleotrididae – 2 Micropercops cinctus (Dabry de Thiersant, CRD Leptobotia mantschurica Berg, 1907 D 1872) Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Cantor, 1842) +Ii(+)CD Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877 D Misgurnus mohoity (Dybowski, 1868) D Esocidae –1 Esox reichertii Dybowski, 1869 D Misgurnus nikolskyi Vasilieva, 2001 +D Gadidae – 1 Eleginus gracilis (Tilesius, 1910) SeaD Paramisgurnus dabrianus Sauvage, 1878 +I(+)CRD Gasterosteidae – Gasterosteus sp. Шедько, 2001 D Coregonidae – 4 Coregonus autumnalis migratorius (Georgi, +Isi(+) 4 Pungitius bussei (Warpachowski, 1887) + 1775) Pungitius pungitius (Linnaeus, 1758) D Coregonus chadary Dybowski, 1869 D Pungitius sinensis (Guichenot, 1869) D Coregonus peled (Gmelin, 1789) +Isi(+) Gobiidae –3 Gymnogobius urotaenia (Hilgendorf, 1879) D Coregonus ussuriensis Berg, 1906 D Rhinogobius brunneus (Temminck et D Cottidae – 3 Cottus poecilopus Heckel, 1837 D Schlegel, 1845) Megalocottus platycephalus (Pallas, 1814) Sea Tridentiger bifasciatus (Steindachner, 1881) Evr Mesocottus haitej (Dybowski, 1869) D Ictaluridae – 1 Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque, 1818) +Ii(-) Cyprinidae – Acanthorhodeus asmussii (Dybowski, 1872) D Lotidae – 1 Lota lota (Linnaeus, 1758) D Acheilognathinae Acanthorhodeus chankaensis (Dybowski, D Mugilidae – 1 Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758 SeaD – 7 1872) Oryziatidae – 1 Oryzias latipes (Temminck et Schlegel, 1846) +?I(+)C Acanthorhodeus gracilis Regan, 1908 +D Osmeridae – 3 Hypomesus nipponensis (McAllister, 1963) D Acanthorhodeus macropterus Bleeker, 1871 +D Hypomesus olidus (Pallas, 1814) D Rhodeus fangi (Miao, 1934) ?I(+)D Osmerus mordax (Mitchill, 1814) D Rhodeus ocellatus (Kner, 1867) +I(+)D Percichthidae – 1 Siniperca chuatsi (Basilewsky, 1855) D Rhodeus sericeus (Pallas, 1776) D Percidae – 2 Perca fluviatilis Linnaeus, 1758 Isi(+)D Cyprinidae – Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes, D Stizostedion lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758) I(+)D Barbinae – 3 1844) Petromyzontidae Lethenteron camtschaticum (Tilesius, 1811) D Mylopharyngodon piceus (Richardson, 1846) – 2 Lethenteron reissneri (Dybowski, 1869) D Squaliobarbus curriculus (Richardson, 1846) CR Pholidae – 1 Pholis pictus (Kner, 1868) Sea Cyprinidae – Chanodichthys dabryi (Bleeker, 1871) KC Pleuronectidae – Liopsetta pinnifasciata (Kner, 1870) Sea Cultrinae – 6 Chanodichthys erythropterus (Basilewsky, D 2 Platichthys stellatus (Pallas, 1787) SeaD 1855) Salangidae – 1 Salangichthys microdon Bleeker, 1860 Sea Chanodichthys mongolicus (Basilewsky, D Salmonidae – 12 Brachymystax lenok (Pallas, 1773) D 1855) Brachymystax tumensis Mori, 1931 D Culter alburnus Basilewsky, 1855 D Hucho taimen (Pallas, 1773) D Hemiculter leucisculus (Basilewsky, 1855) D Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum, 1792) D Hemiculter lucidus (Dybowski, 1872) D Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum, 1792) D Cyprinidae – Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) D Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum, 1792) A(-)D Cyprininae – 2 Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 D Oncorhynchus masou (Brevoort, 1856) D Cyprinidae – ?Abbottina lalinensis Huang et Li, 1995 +C Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum, 1792) Is(-)A(-) Gobioninae – 18 Abbottina rivularis (Basilewsky, 1855) D Oncorhynchus tschawytscha (Walbaum, A(-)D Gnathopogon strigatus (Regan, 1908) D 1792) Gobio gobio cynocephalus Dybowski, 1869 D Parasalmo mykiss Walbaum, 1792 A(-)D Gobio soldatovi Berg, 1914 D Salvelinus leucomaenis (Pallas, 1814) A(-)D Gobiobotia pappenheimi Kreyenberg, 1911 D Salvelinus malma curilus (Pallas, 1814) D ?Gobiobotia sp. Крыжановский, Смирнов, + Siluridae – 2 Silurus asotus (Linnaeus, 1758) D Соин, 1951 Silurus soldatovi Nikolsky et Soin, 1948 Hemibarbus labeo (Pallas, 1776) D Thymallidae – 5 Thymallus grubii Dybowski, 1869 Hemibarbus maculatus Bleeker, 1871 D Thymallus sp.1 Шедько, 2001 +D Ladislavia taczanowskii Dybowski, 1869 D Thymallus sp.2 Шедько, 2001 +D Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck et D Thymallus pallasi Vallenciennes, 1848 (?ssp.) +D Schlegel, 1846) ?Thymallus sp.3 Антонов (фото)+D Romanogobio tenuicorpus (Mori, 1934) D Conventions: Rostrogobio amurensis Taranetz, 1937 D + -not noted in “Annotated Check-List of Cyclostomata and Fishes of the Sarcocheilichthys nigripinnis czerskii (Berg, D continental waters of Russia. 1998”; 1914) I(+) – introduced occasionally of specially (s) , occurred abundantly, spawn Sarcocheilichthys sinensis Bleeker, 1871 D in waters of allocation and outside ( i – probably only in waters of alloca- Saurogobio dabryi Bleeker, 1872 D tion); Squalidus argentatus (Sauvage et Dabry, +D I(-) – the same, but there are not reliable data of their occurrence in natural 1874) waters (or their occurrence was fixed only first years after introduction); Squalidus chankaensis Dybowski, 1872 D ?I – likely introduced; Cyprinidae – Aristichthys nobilis (Richardson, 1845) Is(+)D А(-) –occasionally migrating anadromous fishes; probably occasionally Leuciscinae – 15 Elopichthys bambusa (Richardson, 1845) D spawn, few abundantly or having minor populations; Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes, D K, С, КС – occurred or reproduced and abundant only in the Khanka Lake, in China, or in the Khanka Lake and China. 1844) R –observed in Russian waters; Leuciscus waleckii (Dybowski, 1869) D Sea, Evr –marine and brackish waters Megalobrama amblicephala Yuh, 1955 +Isi(+)CD D – digital-photos are in collection of author (with rights of publication)