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Gobiidae - food competitors for our native fish species?
Všetičková, Lucie ; Jurajda, Pavel ; Vašek, Mojmír ; Adámek, Zdeněk ; Roche, Kevin
To date, two species of the non-native Gobiidae family have been recorded in the Czech Republic: the tubenose goby (Proterorhinus semilunaris) and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). The aim of this study was to assess the dietary habits of these two species, with the relationship between goby diet and that of native species (potential competition, predation) of particular interest. Early results suggest that the main dietary items of both gobiids are common benthic invertebrates such as Chironomidae, Trichoptera and Ephemeroptera. Fish eggs and fry were rarely taken by either species and, when taken, consisted almost exclusively of eggs and fry of their own species (cannibalism). In addition, the round goby was shown to be necrophagous, scavenging on large fish carcasses. This behaviour si relatively rare in the Czech fish assemblage. Our results suggest that tubenose and round goby, while not predating heavily on native benthivorous species, may still represent possible competitors.
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