Food Habits of Four Bottom‐Dwelling Gobiid Species at the Confluence of the Danube and Hron Rivers (South Slovakia)

Abstract

Abstract Since 1997, three new Neogobius species ( Neogobius kessleri , N. fluviatilis and N. melanostomus ) have been regularly recorded in the Slovak part of the Danube River, formerly inhabited only by one native gobiid species ( Proterorhinus marmoratus ). The study of their food habits proved that the amphipod Corophium curvispinum, chironomid larvae and pupae, caddis fly larvae ( Hydropsyche sp.) and mayfly nymphs ( Ephoron virgo , Potamanthus luteus ) were the most important food items contributing to the similarity of the diets of the gobiid species. Fish (0+ Zingel zingel and Sander lucioperca ) appeared in the diet of N. kessleri only. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)