Impact Assessment of the Amur Sleeper Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877 on Amphibians in Samara Oblast

Abstract

The author found that in the study area, an invasive alien species of fish, the Amur sleeper Perccottus glenii, lives in 35 amphibian habitats. Of these, 14 are large water bodies, coastal areas and bays of watercourses, 21 are small water bodies. Larval development is completed by 8 species of tailless amphibians when they have the same habitats with the Amur sleeper. In 4 out of 17 examined populations of the European fire-bellied toad Bombina bombina, the cessation of larval development is noted in syntopic habitats with the Amur sleeper. The author assumes that the distribution of this invasive species is one of the factors in the disappearance of the common newt Lissotriton vulgaris and the European fire-bellied toad Bombina bombina populations in the reservoirs of Samara and Samarskaya Luka National Park. In the natural biotopes the distribution of the Amur sleeper is slower due to the presence of predators-fish and fish-eating reptiles. The marsh frog and the pool frog co-exist with the Amur sleeper; the green toad successfully spawns and undergoes larval development. The absence of common species of helminths confirms the absence of trophic links between the populations of the Amur sleeper and Amphibians in natural habitats of the study area