A First Record for the Bighead Goby (Neogobius kessleri Günther, 1861) along the Turkish Eastern Black Sea Coast

Turk J Zool 28 (2004) 107-109 © TÜB‹TAK A First Record for the Bighead Goby (Neogobius kessleri Günther, 1861) along the Turkish Eastern Black Sea Coast Süleyman BALIK, Davut TURAN Ege University, Fisheries Faculty, Hydrobiology Section, 35100, Bornova, ‹zmir - TURKEY Received: 04.04.2003 Abstract: The, bighead goby is reported for the first time from the Turkish Eastern Black Sea coast in Kale (Tafll› ) Stream (Rize), Erenler Stream (Çayeli-Rize), Kantarl› Stream (Pazar-Rize), F›rt›na Stream (Ardeflen-Rize), Ifl›kl› Stream (Ardeflen-Rize), Ça¤layan Stream (F›nd›kl›-Rize) and Yeflil Stream (F›nd›kl›-Rize). A total of 70 individuals from different sampling stations were caught by an electro-shocker. Systematic characteristics of this species were examined and then compared with those reported in previous studies. Key Words: Gobiidae, Bighead goby, Eastern Black Sea streams (Rize), Turkey. Türkiye’nin Do¤u Karadeniz K›y›lar› için Yeni Bir Kay›t; Büyükbafl Kayabal›¤› (Neogobius kessleri Günther,1861) Özet: Bu çal›flmada, Neogobius kessleri Günther, 1861 türü Türkiye’nin Do¤u Karadeniz k›y›lar›nda ilk defa tespit edilmifltir. Toplam 70 birey Kale (Tafll›) Deresi (Rize), Erenler Deresi (Çayeli-Rize), Kantarl› Deresi (Pazar-Rize), F›rt›na Deresi (Ardeflen-Rize), Ifl›kl› Dere (Ardeflen-Rize), Ca¤layan Dere (F›nd›kl›-Rize) ve Yeflil Dere (F›nd›kl›-Rize)’den toplanm›flt›r. Farkl› istasyonlardan toplam 70 birey Elekro-floker kullanarak toplanm›flt›r. Bu türün sistematik karakterleri daha önce yap›lan çal›flmalarla karfl›laflt›rarak test edilmifltir. Anahtar Sözcükler: Gobiidae, Büyükbafl kayabal›¤›, Do¤u Karadeniz Dereleri (Rize), Türkiye. Introduction Studies concerning the freshwater fish fauna of Turkey began in the middle of the 19th century and have continued up to the present. Both Turkish and foreign researchers have carried out many studies on this subject. Among these, Sözer (1941) and Erazi (1942) were pioneers in documenting the distribution of the gobiids in the waters (both inland and seas) of Turkey. The spatial distribution of some gobiids in Turkey was also given by Kosswig and Battalgil (1943), Berg (1949), Slastenenko (1955-56), Geldiay (1969), Geldiay and Bal›k (1996), Kuru (1975, 1980), Bal›k (1979, 1985), Erk’akan (1983), Meriç (1986), Akfliray (1987), Kutrup (1994), Ery›lmaz (2002) and Bileceno¤lu et al. (2002). Until now, the only known Neogobius members in the fish fauna of the Turkish Black Sea coast were Neogobis fluviatilis Pallas 1811, Neogobius platyrostris Pallas 1811, Neogobius eurycephalus Pallas 1811, Neogobius melanostomus Pallas 1811 and Neogobius ratan Nordmann 1840. Therefore, the objective of this study is to report N. kessleri on the Turkish Eastern Black Sea coast and to give some systematic characteristics of the species. Materials and Methods The bighead gobies were caught by electro-fishing (220 VAC transformed to 220 VDC, 2.1 KW) at various sites of the streams (Kale Stream, Erenler Stream, Kantarl› Stream, Ifl›kl› Stream, F›rt›na Stream, Ça¤layan Stream and Yeflil Stream) during 2000 and 2002 (Figure 1). Fish samples were fixed in 4% formalin and transferred to the laboratory for processing. The taxonomic key given by Whitehead et al. (1984) was used to identify the species. 107 A First Record for the Bighead Goby (Neogobius Kessleri Günther, 1861) along the Turkish Eastern Black Sea Coast TURKEY B L A C K S E A Çayeli R‹ZE ‹kiz Str. 1 Kale Str. Güneysu 2 F›nd›kl› 9 Ça¤layan Str. 7 10 Ardeflen 6 Pazar 8 Ifl›kl› Str. Yeflil Str. 4 F›rt›na Str. 3 5 Kantarl› Str. Çaml›hemflin Hemflin Büyük Str. Erenler Str. ARTV‹N ‹kizdere TRABZON N ERZURUM 20 km. Figure 1. Sampling stations. Meristic features of the bighead goby specimens were determined by using a loop and a stereo binocular microscope with x4 magnification. Metric features of the gobiid specimens were measured by using a millimetric fish ruler and digital compasses. Colour patterns of the specimens were also determined when they were alive. Results of upper lip almost uniform, not exceeding two-thirds of the lateral preorbital area. Head length is 0.25 to 0.33 of standard length. Head width is 1.55 to 1.08 of own depth. Interorbital distance is 0.85 to slightly less than eye diameter. Snout is 0.26 to 0.32 of head length. Pelvic disc with angular lateral lobes, about 0.18-0.27 width of rear edge. Caudal peduncle depth is about 0.66 of own length. The colour is reddish-yellow to dark grey with dark brown to black spots. Taxonomic section Classis: Teleostei Discussion Ordo: Perciformes The bighead goby inhabits fresh and brackish waters and prefers rocky places and is widely distributed on the coast of the NW Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Ukraine, the River Dniepr, the River Dniestr, the River Don and the River Moscom (Slastenenko, 1955-56; Smirnow, 1986; Sokolov et al., 1989). Meristic features of specimens distributed along the NW Black Sea coast were given as D1. VI, D2. I (15) 16-18 (19), A. I 11-15 (16), Sq. (59) 64-79 by Berg (1949) and as D1. V-IV, D2. I 16-18, A. I 11-15, Sq. 64-79 by Slastenenko (1955-56). Meristic features of the specimens collected in present study were D1. VI (VII), D2. I 16-18, A. I 12-15, Sq. 63-75. The number of the first dorsal rays was reported as VI by Berg (1949) and V-VI by Slastenenko (1955-56), Familia: Gobiidae Neogobius kessleri Günther, 1861 D1: VI (VII), D2: I 16-18, P: 18-21, A: I 12-15, Sq: 63-75, V: 32-35. Description General body shape of the bighead goby is shown in Figure 2. The body is elongate, anteriorly cylindrical, laterally compressed in posterior section. Genipors are vertical and in 6 rows. Nape scaled completely, scales ctenoid. Width 108 S. BALIK, D. TURAN Figure 2. General body shape of bighead goby. whereas this meristic character was VI-VII in the present study. Depth of the caudal peduncle of the samples was reported to be twice the length of the caudal peduncle by Berg (1949) and more than 1.5 times by Slastenenko (1955-56). This ratio ranged from 1.40 to 1.82 (mean 1.56) in the present study. References Akfliray, F. 1987. Türkiye Deniz Bal›klar› ve Tayin Anahtarlar›, ‹stanbul Üniversitesi Rektörlü¤ü yay›nlar›, ‹stanbul. Bal›k, S. 1979. Bat› Anadolu Tatl›su Bal›klar›n›n Taksonomisi ve Ekolojik Özellikleri Üzerine Araflt›rmalar, Doktora Tezi, Ege Üniv., Fen Fak. ‹lmi Raporlar Serisi, ‹zmir, 60 pp. Bal›k, S. 1985. Trakya Bölgesi ‹çsu Bal›klar›n›n Bugünkü Durumu ve Taksonomik Revizyonu, Do¤a Bilim Derg. Seri a2, Cilt 9, 2: 147160. Berg, L.S. 1949. Freshwater Fishes of the U.S.S.R. and Adjacent Countries, Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. Zool. Inst., Moskova-Leningrad. Bileceno¤lu, M., Taflkavak, E., Mater, S. and Kaya, M. 2002. Check list of marine fishes of Turkey (Zootaxa 113), Magnolia Press, Auckland, New Zealand. Kosswig, C. and Battalgil F. 1943. Bemerkunger zur Ekologeder Ichthyofauna Kleinaseins, besonders sciences abflublesen Zentralbeckens, Zoologischer Anzeiger, Band 172, Heft 1, 1- (...truncated)