Collapse of native ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus) population in the Biesbosch lakes (the Netherlands) due to round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) invasion.

Benthic fish community was investigated in three artificial lakes of the Biesbosch system in the Netherlands in two periods; before and after round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) invasion. Native ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus), the usually dominant species of the catches of benthic gillnets and littoral beach seining before the invasion, almost completely disappeared in all investigated lakes only two years after the invasion. Significant increase of age 0 perch (Perca fluviatilis) and in some reservoirs also pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) abundance in gillnet catches was also found after invasio... Mehr ...