The current composition of the family Gobiidae Cuvier, 1816 (Actinopterygii) in waters of Ukraine with comments on species distributions

Abstract

The current composition of the family Gobiidae Cuvier, 1816 (Actinopterygii) in waters of Ukraine with comments on species distributions. -L. Manilo. -The present paper is devoted to a literature-based retrospective analysis of changes in the species composition of the family Gobiidae of waters of Ukraine since the 1930s. Keys and checklists published earlier cover the fish fauna of separate regions of Ukraine, either only of river basins or of coastal waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The first checklist of fishes of Ukraine was published by academician A. M. Nikolsky in 1930 including both freshwater and marine species known in that time. In that work, the family Gobiidae includes 23 species of 7 genera. In the paper by D. A. Tretyakov (1947), 23 species of 10 genera of true gobies are listed for waters of Ukraine with some changes in the species composition. In one of the volumes of the series "Fauna of Ukraine. Fishes" devoted to true gobies (Smirnov 1986), data on 25 species of 11 genera are presented. According to the data by Yu. Movchan (2011), the composition of the family largely expanded comprising 33 species of 13 genera, including 5 marine species that were recorded in that time in coastal waters of the Crimea as well as 1 newly described species from the Chorna River. Later, five more marine species, known earlier only in the Mediterranean Basin, were found in waters of Ukraine, as well as another species in the Sea of Azov. It was established that the current fish fauna of the family Gobiidae of Ukraine includes 38 species of 17 genera, according to the literature and data from the fish collection of the National Museum of Natural History NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv). The geographic range and distribution of each species in waters of Ukraine are presented. The fauna of true gobies of Ukraine is composed of species of the Ponto-Caspian (52.6 %) and Atlantic-Mediterranean (47.4 %) faunal complexes. Endemics (4 species) are highlighted along with recent intruders of the Black Sea that have appeared here since the early 2000s (8 species); the time of appearance for 2 species remains unknown.

Dietary partitioning of six co‐occurring Ponto‐Caspian gobies in the Dnieper River basin

“…For example, 11 goby species are currently recorded in the Dnieper River reservoirs and many of them can be found in tributaries entering these reservoirs. These species include Black Sea tadpole goby, Benthophilus nudus (Berg, 1898); beardless tadpole goby, Benthophiloides brauneri (Beling et Iljin, 1927); Caucasian dwarf goby, Knipowitschia caucasica (Berg, 1916); long-tail dwarf goby, Knipowitschia longicaudata (Kessler, 1877) (Gunter, 1861); and ratan goby, Ponticola ratan (Nordmann, 1840) (Bulakhov et al, 2008;Kireeva & Kuzmenko, 2011;Manilo, 2020).…”

“…Two gobiids including tubenose goby and monkey goby occurred in this Dnieper River reach in the 1960-1970s before its impoundment, and four species including Black Sea tadpole, bighead, racer and round gobies appeared in the reservoir in the 1980s after the reservoir impoundment (Sukhoyvan & Vyatchanina, 1989). Beardless tadpole, Caucasian dwarf, knout and ratan gobies penetrated the Kaniv reservoir later and occur there now (Manilo, 2020). As for the Stugna River, according to available published information, only monkey goby was recorded there in the 1970s (Poltavchuk, 1976) and three species including monkey, tubenose and racer gobies were reported for the period of 1999-2004(Sabodash & Tsyba, 2006.…”

“…For example, 11 goby species are currently recorded in the Dnieper River reservoirs and many of them can be found in tributaries entering these reservoirs. These species include Black Sea tadpole goby, Benthophilus nudus (Berg, 1898); beardless tadpole goby, Benthophiloides brauneri (Beling et Iljin, 1927); Caucasian dwarf goby, Knipowitschia caucasica (Berg, 1916); long‐tail dwarf goby, Knipowitschia longicaudata (Kessler, 1877); western tubenose goby, Proterorhinus semilunaris (Pallas, 1814); knout goby, Mesogobius batrachocephalus (Pallas, 1814); Pontian monkey goby, Neogobius fluviatilis (Pallas, 1814); round goby, Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814); racer goby, Babka gymnotrachelus (Kessler, 1857); Pontian bighead goby, Ponticola kessleri (Gunter, 1861); and ratan goby, Ponticola ratan (Nordmann, 1840) (Bulakhov et al, 2008; Kireeva & Kuzmenko, 2011; Manilo, 2020).…”