Danube lamprey
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Danube lamprey ( Eudontomyzon danfordi ) |
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| Eudontomyzon danfordi | ||||||||||||
| Regan , 1911 |
The Danube lamprey ( Eudontomyzon danfordi ) is a species of lamprey that inhabits the middle and lower catchment area of the Danube . It is limited to its tributaries, while it does not occur in the Danube itself. The very similar Danube brook lamprey ( Eudontomyzon vladykovi ) has long been confused with this species.
features
The adults are thickest near the middle of the body and reach lengths of 18 to 30 centimeters. Depending on where they are, they are dark brown to ash gray on the back and whitish on the belly. The two dorsal fins are always separated from each other. The wide maxillary plate has only one tooth on each side; the lower jaw plate has six to ten teeth. The mouth disc has circularly arranged, pointed outer and inner lip teeth; on the lower part of the disc these form a bristle field. The front tongue plate has no central indentation and its front edge has 13 teeth. The middle of it is enlarged and broadened.
In the larval stage , the Danube lamprey becomes about 19 centimeters long.
distribution
This species lives in the middle and lower Danube basin , but not in the Danube itself. Rather, it is found in the Danube tributaries in Austria , the Czech Republic , Slovakia , Hungary (especially in the Tisza Basin ), in Croatia , Serbia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Romania , Moldova and Ukraine can be found. In Bulgaria the species is considered extinct or lost.
Way of life
The Danube lamprey inhabits the grayling and trout regions of mountain rivers as a non-migrating species . It feeds on the blood and scraped meat from barbels , chub , loaches and bullheads by rasping holes in the fish's body with its suction cup. Among the lampreys found in freshwater, this species is the only one that parasitizes on freshwater fish. Penetrating trout farms can cause major economic damage. Spawning takes place on heavily flooded gravel banks from April to May. The eggs drift into calm river bays, where the larvae ( called Querder ) develop.
protection
Like all native Eudontomyzon species, the Danube lamprey is listed in Appendix II of the Habitats Directive by the European Union and is therefore a type of community interest, for whose preservation special protected areas must be designated by the member states.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eudontomyzon danfordi in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009.
- ↑ Roland Meier Gerst, Thomas Romig: The freshwater fish in Europe. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09483-9 , p. 131.
literature
- Fritz Terofal: Freshwater fish in European waters. Mosaik, Munich 1984. ISBN 3-570-01274-3 .
Web links
- Eudontomyzon danfordi in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009 Posted by: J. Freyhof, M. Kottelat, 2008. Accessed November 6 in 2009.