Distribution and morphological features of the common sunfish Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758) in waters of Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine

The common sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus), a representative of the North American fish fauna, became widespread in waters of south-eastern Ukraine. Currently, it is known from water bodies of the Northern Pryazovia, from the basins of the Dnipro and Siversky Donets Rivers. The common sunfish is a recent invader species in the fish fauna of the Siversky Donets and Mius Rivers. Fish were caught in the Siversky Donets River above and below the dam of the Schastinska TPS, in the rivers Luhan, Olkhova, and Luhanchik, an in the reservoir of the former Shteregresovska TPS on the Mius River. They were caught on a fishing rod in June-July 2015–2019. Findings of the common sunfish from the Aydar and Derkul Rivers are also known. Morphometric features of the common sunfish L. gibbosus were studied for the first time. An analysis of the data revealed that the occurrence of the common sunfish in the studied water bodies led to the formation of a more elongated body shape compared to individuals from the native range (Ontonabe River, Canada). This is confirmed by the maximum values of average length of the head, dorsal and pectoral fins, post-dorsal distance, and body height in relation to standard body length. Although the caught fish had slightly higher average values of standard body length compared to those from the natural range, determination of Student's t-test confirmed the revealed regularity between fish samples from the Sіversky Donets and Ontonabe Rivers according to these characters, but there was no significant difference between the average values of the pectoral fin length. Comparison of fish samples from the Dnieper and Ontonabe Rivers showed a significant difference between the mean values of only the largest body height among the considered characters. No significant differences in the mean values of these characters were found when comparing fish samples from the Sіversky Donets and Dnipro Rivers. Special deviations of meristic features in the studied fish were not noted, only their range of variation was wider. Due to the significant rate of its expansion and the damage caused to aborigine ichthyofauna, this invasive species should receive quarantine status in the near future.

Abstract licence: CC BY-SA

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