Abstract
The topmouth gudgeon, Pseudorasboraparva (Temminck & Schlegel, 1842), is a small cyprinid fish that inhabits the littoral zones of freshwater habitats throughout Asia and Europe. It is regarded as an invasive species in Europe, but in its native range, in China, as food and as an environmental bio-indicator. In this study, the embryonic and larval development of P.parva was investigated for the first time. The eggs of P.parva are transparent, adhesive and elliptical. The mean size of fertilized eggs was (1.63×1.31) ± 0.04 mm. From fertilization to hatching, embryonic development could be divided into eight stages and 34 phases, and the incubation period lasted for 109.25 hours at 24 ± 1 °C. Newly hatched larvae were 4.1 ± 3 mm in length, and the yolk absorption was completed within six days after hatching. The first and second swim bladders formed at the third and ninth day, respectively. The pectoral fin formed before the hatching stage, followed by the caudal, dorsal, anal and ventral fin formation after hatching. About 20 days after hatching, the morphology of the fry was similar to the adult fish. These findings provide a basis for determining the complete ontogeny of P.parva, as well as facilitate the management and utilization of this fish.
Highlights
The topmouth gudgeon, Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck & Schlegel, 1842) is a small cyprinid fish (Gobioninae) native to freshwater habitats throughout China, Japan, Korea and the River Amur basin (Okuda et al 1996, Priyadarshana et al 2001)
It was accidently introduced to Europe along with the introduction of herbivorous Chinese carps in 1950s and 1960s. This was followed by the rapid and widespread colonization of Europe and North Africa (Boltachev et al 2006, Britton et al 2010, Witkowski 2011, Dana et al 2015, Karabanov et al 2016). As it can compete for resources with the fry of other fish species and carry parasites, it is generally regarded as an undesirable colonizer, and even a serious ecological threat to the endemic ichthyofauna, in its non-native range (Welcomme 1988, Charrier et al 2016, Svolikova et al 2016)
The present investigation was undertaken with the goal to describe the embryonic and larval development of P. parva in detail
Summary
The topmouth gudgeon, Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck & Schlegel, 1842) is a small cyprinid fish (Gobioninae) native to freshwater habitats throughout China, Japan, Korea and the River Amur basin (Okuda et al 1996, Priyadarshana et al 2001). It was accidently introduced to Europe along with the introduction of herbivorous Chinese carps in 1950s and 1960s This was followed by the rapid and widespread colonization of Europe and North Africa (Boltachev et al 2006, Britton et al 2010, Witkowski 2011, Dana et al 2015, Karabanov et al 2016). As it can compete for resources with the fry of other fish species and carry parasites, it is generally regarded as an undesirable colonizer, and even a serious ecological threat to the endemic ichthyofauna, in its non-native range (Welcomme 1988, Charrier et al 2016, Svolikova et al 2016). This will provide a base to determine the complete ontogeny of P. parva, as well as reinforce the management and promote the value maximization for this fish
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