Two new populations of the European mudminnow, Umbra krameri (Actinopterygii: Esociformes: Umbridae), in south-western Romania with the first record in the Banat region

• DOI: 10.3750/aiep/02405
• Publication Date: 2018-10-01T18:04:51Z
• Authors: Severus-Daniel Co...; Diana Cupșa; Ilie-Cătălin Telcean; István Sas-Kovács; Sára Ferenți
• Keywords: 0106 biological sciences; European mudminnow; distr; Romania; distribution; Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling; SH1-691; 14. Life underwater; relict; 01 natural sciences; small habitats

Two new populations of the European mudminnow, Umbra krameri Walbaum, 1792, were encountered in Banat and Oltenia regions, south-western Romania, within 2014–2017. The mudminnows were captured with a hand net used normally for frogs. This is the first record of this species for Banat. In Oltenia U. krameri was encountered in a region where it was considered extinct. In both areas U. krameri was present in its characteristic habitats, i.e., small water bodies with dense aquatic vegetation. Umbra krameri is subject to human pressure in both areas, but this pressure is more severe in Banat, where the agriculture is more intensive. The rare findings of the species in southern Romania are probably due to unsuitable searching methods often used in surveys, i.e., conducted only in large, but unsuitable aquatic habitats, and using classical ichthyological methods, such as electrofishing.