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Invasive Carassius spp. in the Tiber River basin (Umbria, Central Italy): population status and possible interactions with native fish species by Antonella CAROSI* (1), Lucia GHETTI (2) & Massimo LORENZONI (1) Abstract. – The purpose of the research was to analyse the distribution, abundance and growth of Carassius spp., a taxon which includes non-native species introduced into the water bodies of the Umbrian portion of the Tiber River basin during the late 1980s. Additionally, the study estimated the relative weight for Barbus tyberi- nus, Squalius lucumonis and Sarmarutilus rubilio to investigate the presence of competitive interactions between Carassius spp. and these native species that characterize the middle and lowland reaches of the Umbrian water- courses. Currently, Carassius spp. is widely distributed in both the stagnant and the slow-running waters of the entire basin. The presence of these species was recorded in 34.81% of the total sampling sites; the results showed that the presence of Carassius spp. was associated with the presence of other non-native species and with poor water quality. In total, 4520 specimens of Carassius spp. were collected and the age composition ranged from 0+ to 9+. The equation for the length-weight relationship (TL-W) was determined as W = 0.010TL3.180. For the © SFI Etruscan chub Squalius lucumonis, an endemic species of central Italy, the mean value of the relative weight was Received: 10 May 2016 significantly higher whenCarassius spp. was absent. The results of the research suggest the need to establish Accepted: 30 Nov. 2016 effective management conservation strategies for this endemic species. Editor: H. Persat Résumé. – Les carassins invasifs, Carassius spp., dans le bassin du Tibre (Ombrie, Italie centrale) : état des populations et interactions possibles avec les espèces indigènes. Key words Le but de la recherche était d’analyser la distribution, l’abondance et la croissance du Carassius spp., un Cyprinidae taxon qui comprend des espèces non indigènes introduites dans les plans d’eau de la partie ombrienne du bassin Carassius spp. du Tibre à la fin des années 1980. En outre, l’étude a estimé le poids relatif de Barbus tyberinus, Squalius lucu- Central Italy monis et Sarmarutilus rubilio dans le but d’analyser la présence d’interactions concurrentielles entre Carassius Invasive species spp. et les trois espèces indigènes qui caractérisent les tronçons moyens et terminaux des cours d’eau de l’Om- Distribution brie. Actuellement, Carassius spp. est largement distribué dans les eaux stagnantes et courantes de l’ensemble Growth du bassin. La présence de ces espèces a été enregistrée dans 34,81% des sites d’échantillonnage ; les résultats ont montré que la présence du Carassius spp. a été associée à la présence d’autres espèces exotiques et à la mauvaise qualité de l’eau. Au total, 4520 spécimens de Carassius spp. ont été capturés et dix classes d’âge (de 0+ à 9+) ont été identifiées. La relation entre la longueur totale (TL) et le poids (W) est donnée par l’équation W = 0,010TL3.180. Pour Squalius lucumonis, espèce endémique de l’Italie centrale, les valeurs moyennes du poids relatif étaient plus élevées dans les cas où Carassius spp. était absent. Les résultats de cette étude montrent la nécessité d’établir des stratégies efficaces pour la gestion de la conservation de cette espèce endémique. There has been considerable confusion concerning the hof, 2007). From Japan, it was imported to Europe (Szcz- taxonomic status of the genus Carassius, due to the slight erbowsky, 2002). The first introduction in Italy was dated morphologic differences between the species (Rylkova et al., back to the 17th century (Bianco, 1995). The presence of both 2013). Currently in Europe is reported the presence of four C. carassius and C. auratus was reported in Milan Prov- species of the genus Carassius, namely Carassius carassius ince (Puzzi et al., 2007), in the Arno River basin (Tuscany (Linnaeus, 1758), Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758), Car- Region) (Nocita, 2007) and in the southern part of the Tiber assius gibelio (Bloch, 1782) and Carassius langsdorfii Tem- River basin (Lazio Region) (Tancioni and Cataudella, 2009; minck & Schlegel, 1846 (Kottelat and Freyhof, 2007). Sarrocco et al., 2012). The Prussian carp C. gibelio was gen- The crucian carp C. carassius is native from Eastern erally considered native from central Europe and Siberia or Europe and most of Asia (Szczerbowsky, 2002); it was imported in Europe from eastern Asia (Kottelat and Freyhof, extensively imported to Italy, in many areas of England 2007); Kalous et al. (2012) redescribed the species as native and France (Kottelat and Freyhof, 2007) in the mid 1800s for Europe. Recent studies based on the genetic characteri- (Szczerbowsky, 2002; Sarrocco et al., 2012). The goldfish zation showed the presence of the species in many European C. auratus is reported to be native from East Asia and was countries, including Italy (Rylkova et al., 2013). The Japa- introduced to Japan in the 16th century (Kottelat and Frey- nese species C. langsdorfii was detected in the last few years (1) Dept of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnologies, University of Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 06100 Perugia, Italy. [[email protected]] (2) Forest, Economics and Mountain Territory Service, Umbria Region, Piazza del Bacio 06100 Perugia, Italy. [[email protected]] * Corresponding author [[email protected]] Cybium 2017, 41(1): 11-23. Carassius spp. in the Tiber River basin CAROSI ET AL . in the Elbe River basin in the Czech Republic (Kalous et al., freshwater ecosystems (Rylkova et al., 2013). The charac- 2007), in Greece (Tsipas et al., 2009; Rylkova et al., 2013), teristic that determines the invasiveness of Carassius spp. is in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany and Ukraine (Rylkova et mainly their great ability to tolerate extreme environmental al., 2013); recent studies confirmed the presence of the spe- conditions; they tolerate a high rate of pollution and can live cies also in northwestern Italy (Kalous et al., 2013; Rylkova in waters with a low percentage of oxygen (Szczerbowsky, et al., 2013). 2002) and in extremely turbid waters (Crivelli, 1995; Balon, Based on diagnostic characters, as the number of gill 2004). C. auratus in particular is tolerant to the high con- rakers, the shape of the dorsal fin and the peritoneum col- centration of many heavy metals and organochlorine insec- our (Balon, 2004; Kottelat and Freyhof, 2007), at first all the ticides (Szczerbowsky, 2002). Of further importance is the specimens considered in the present study were attributed wide food range and high fertility rate that characterize these to the species C. auratus. However, having not performed species. One feature of C. auratus stocks in particular is the genetic analysis and considering: i) the high morphological presence of triploid gynogenetic females and diploid females similarity between C. auratus, C. gibelio and C. langsdorfii, that reproduce sexually (Buth et al., 1991). Carassius aura- and ii) the ease with which C. auratus can hybridize with tus populations, with a highly unbalanced sex ratio in favour C. carassius (Szczerbowsky, 2002), we cannot completely of females, were found in Italian inland waters, including the exclude the presence of other species in the sample. There- middle reaches of the Po River (females: 98.00-100.00%) fore, in the present paper we used the scientific nomencla- (Vitali and Braghieri, 1981) and in Lake Trasimeno (females: ture of Carassius spp., which includes introduced species 97.40%) (Lorenzoni et al., 2010b). A further determinant most probably of East Asian origin. factor for the success of these species is represented by their Relatively few ecological investigations on Carassius high growth rate that allows it to quickly reach a size that is spp. populations have been carried out in Italy (Lorenzoni large enough to escape predators (Lorenzoni et al., 2007). et al., 2007; Pedicillo et al., 2010). The presence of Car- In many places where they have been introduced, Car- assius spp. in the water bodies of the Umbria region was assius spp. proved to have a negative impact on existing reported for the first time in the late 1980s, and they easily native species; they are considered a threat to the native fish placed themselves among the dominant species both in stag- communities and are subject to containment programmes nant and slow-running waters. The presence of these species (Ghetti et al., 2007). With regard to the habitat alteration, was detected in Trasimeno Lake in 1988, where it was most previous research showed that the presence of abundant likely introduced stocked together with juvenile Cyprinus populations of C. auratus in lakes causes a notable increase carpio Linnaeus, 1758 (Mearelli et al., 1990; Ghetti et al., of the water turbidity (Crivelli, 1995; Richardson et al., 2007). Carassius spp., together with other numerous exot- 1995). This increase in turbidity could be due to the move- ic species naturalized in Lake Trasimeno (Lorenzoni and ment of the sediment that occurs when the goldfish feed or Ghetti, 2012), have proven to be well adapted to the envi- to the increase of predation on zooplankton, which results ronmental characteristics of the lake; thus, their abundance in an increase of phytoplankton and, thus, the eutrophication have increased quickly, and they can be considered among of the lake waters (Crivelli, 1995). In Lake Trasimeno, the the dominant species in the fish community (Mearelli et increase of C. auratus abundance (73.23% of the total catch al., 1990). Additionally, in the Corbara Reservoir, Caras- during a monitoring carried out in 2004) has been related to sius spp. is abundant and well acclimatized (Pedicillo et al., the decrease of the abundance of the endemic species Esox 2010); during the monitoring carried out in 2000, Carassi- cisalpinus (Bianco & Delmastro, 2011), a predator that needs us spp.