Is topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva responsible for the decline in sunbleak Leucaspius delineatus populations?

Abstract

In England, a severe decline of introduced sunbleak Leucaspius delineatus populations has been attributed to the introduction of the invasive topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva. In France, however, after 4 years of P. parva colonization in a large natural lake, no demonstrated impacts on the native L. delineatus populations have been observed. This suggests that the original impacts observed in England, such as spawning inhibition and high mortality, were the result of an emerging pathogen, the rosette‐like agent, hosted by L. delineatus rather than P. parva.