The North American fathead minnow Pimephales promelas in Europe: Potential invader or a benign non-native fish?

Abstract

Fish introductions can result in their establishment in the wild, with invasion risk assessments identifying those non-native species with a high probability of developing invasive populations. The North American fathead minnow Pimephales promelas was imported to Europe for decades for both ornamental and scientific (toxicology research) purposes. In North America, the fathead minnow has been introduced widely into areas outside of its natural range, where it has expressed considerable plasticity in life-history traits when establishing new populations. In Europe, established populations are present in the wild but remain limited in number, with the paucity of life-history data on these European populations leading to their risk assessments being based on minimal data resulting in low confidence. The aim here was to overcome these data deficiencies by analysing the life history traits and morphologies of four European P. promelas non-native populations (England: 2; Netherlands and Belgium: 1), with risk screenings completed based on these data. All populations consisted of small-bodied individuals (< 80 mm), with individuals present of up to age 4 years. Maturity was from age 1, with female absolute fecundity recorded to 843 eggs/female, although as a male nest guarding and batch spawning species, it remains unclear as to how many eggs are laid per reproductive season. Application of the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit indicated scores around the high-risk category, suggesting that if allowed to spread and establish further fathead minnows could become highly invasive in Europe.