Publication abstract
Biological traits and potential invasiveness of introduced pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus populations in northern Europe
J. Cucherousset, G.H. Copp*, M.G. Fox, E. Sterud, H.H. van Kleef, H. Verreycken and E. Zahorska
To evaluate the potential invasiveness of pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus introduced to northern European inland waters, growth and reproduction were examined in ten populations of pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus from water bodies along a trajectory spanning from north to middle Europe (Norway, England, Holland, Belgium and France) and evaluated them in light of published datasets from England and elsewhere in Europe. In 848 pumpkinseed captured, maximum age was 3–4 years, with sex ratio near unity in all but one population. Continental northern European populations had significantly lower maximum ages and greater juvenile growth than published for English populations, but adult growth (age 2–3 increment) and mean (Le Cren) body condition did not differ. Significant variations with increasing latitude were observed in adult growth (age 2–3 increment in total length, TL) and mean age at maturity (AM), with non-significant variations observed in juvenile growth (TL at age 2) and gonado-somatic index. As observed elsewhere in Europe, mean AM decreased significantly with increasing TL at age 2. Using this relationship, which has been proposed elsewhere as a potential predictive model of pumpkinseed invasiveness, eight of the ten populations could be provisionally categorized as ‘non-invasive’ (five populations), ‘transitional’ (one population) and ‘invasive’ (two populations), with two populations not categorized due to insufficient data. The present study considerably extends current knowledge of latitudinal variability in the biological traits of introduced pumpkinseed and, within a global warming context, provides new insights into pumpkinseed distribution and invasiveness in Europe.
Reference
J. Cucherousset, G.H. Copp*, M.G. Fox, E. Sterud, H.H. van Kleef, H. Verreycken and E. Zahorska (2009) Biological traits and potential invasiveness of introduced pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus populations in northern Europe. Biological Invasions, 11; 2171-2180
