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Turkish Journal of Zoology

DOI

10.3906/zoo-1402-35

Abstract

The cyprinid Pachychilon macedonicum (Steindachner, 1892) is a species that is endemic to the southern Balkan Peninsula with limited distribution in Greece. Here we confirm the species' expansion and establishment in a complex of 4 lakes located outside of its currently known distribution range and provide, for the first time, some of its biological features. The species' presence was certified in 3 (Vegoritida, Petron, Chimaditida; northern central Greece) of the 4 lakes studied (Lake Zazari was also sampled), which now constitute a new western limit for its distribution in Greece. Pachychilon macedonicum specimens in Lake Vegoritida were longer (mean length: 5.8 ± 0.04 cm) than those in Lake Petron (mean length: 5.5 ± 0.05 cm), with the longer and heavier specimens recorded from depths of between 9 and 12 m in Lake Vegoritida (ANOVA, P < 0.001). The highest rate of individuals per 100 m2 of nets (NPUE) and weight of individuals per 100 m2 of nets (BPUE) were observed in the upper depth strata (0-3 and 3-6 m). The densities, in terms of NPUE, as well as the extracted length-frequency distributions, show evidence for the species' establishment in Lake Vegoritida and for a newly existing population in Lake Petron. The estimated length-weight relationships revealed positive allometric growth of the species in both lakes, Vegoritida (b = 3.3235) and Petron (b = 3.4594). In general, Pachychilon macedonicum exhibited an adaptive selection to littoral environments and an occupation of the epilimnion, avoiding the deeper water strata.

Keywords

Range expansion, southern Balkan Peninsula, Pachychilon macedonicum, length?weight relationship, NPUE, vertical distribution

First Page

57

Last Page

63

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