Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846)

Pseudorasbora parva View in CoL View Figure

Common name. Stone moroko.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Gobionidae in West Asia by: ● mouth small, superior / ● barbels absent / ○ dark-grey midlateral stripe outside spawning time / ○ 33–38 total lateral-line scales / ○ 7½ branched dorsal rays / ○ no dorsal or ventral keels. Size up to 95 mm SL.

Distribution View Figure . Very widespread in West Asia except Arabian Peninsula. In Anatolia mostly in western and central parts but increasing in Eastern Anatolia. Still rare in Iraq. Iran, including Hari drainage and Sistan and Mashkid basins. Also in Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Native to Japan and Amur to Zhujiang (Pearl River) drainages (Siberia, Korea, China).

Habitat. Ubiquitous, in a large variety of habitats. Most common in well-vegetated small channels, ponds, and small lakes. Usually spawns in still or very slow-flowing water.

Biology. Lives up to 3,rarely 5 years.First spawns at 1 year if larger than 35 mm SL.Male larger than female, with deeper body and darker colour. Male with bluish-grey breeding colour and a few very large nuptial tubercles on snout. Spawns March−June until October in Lake Eğirdir. Female spawns usually 3−4 times in a season. Male clear surface of a spawning site on stones or plants. Eggs are attached to substrate and guarded by male until larvae hatch. Feeds on various small crustaceans, insects, and plant material.

Conservation status. Non-native; introduced as a weed with stocked carp. Usually not abundant in fast-running waters. Proliferates locally in ponds and other artificial habitats,quickly becoming numerically dominant and a serious food competitor for native species. Also associated as a vector of Sphaerothecum destruens , a generalist pathogen.

Remarks. First introduced in Romania in 1961 with fry of Ctenopharyngodon idella from middle Changjiang [Yangtze], and from Amur into Russia and Ukraine,from where it colo- nised most of West Asia,North Africa, and Europe, either by active invasion, as stocked or released bait, or accidentally mixed with fry of other species.

Further reading. Bănărescu 1999a (biology); Britton et al. 2007 (effects); Hardouin et al. 2018 (phylogeography); Ganjali et al. 2020 ( Iran); Küçük et al. 2024b (biology).