engleski

Endemic fish fauna of the Hutovo Blato wetland (Neretva river basin, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and their conservation status

The present work analysed endemic fish fauna of the Hutovo Blato, a small Mediterranean-type wetland of the Neretva River basin (Adriatic watershed), southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. This wetland is of considerable ichthyofaunistic and conservation importance because of the presence of endemic species with very restricted distribution, i.e. Chondrostoma knerii, Cobitis narentana and new species of Knipowitschia (Knipowitschia hutove sp. nov.) and other endangered endemic species of Dalmatia division, Euro-Mediterranean subregion. Nevertheless, the taxonomic designations of a large number of species in this area are in need of revision, questions remain over their systematics, with little information available on distribution, abundance and conservation status. For the moment, there is no published list of endangered species in Bosnia and Herzegovina and no conservation actions were implemented. This small wetland area hosts 39 fish species, with 11 currently recognised endemic fish taxa. The fish community is dominated by lacustrine species, primarly cyprinids. These endemic species are, as follows: Adriatic brook lamprey Lethenteron zanandreai (Vladykov, 1955), tooth trout Salmo dentex (Heckel, 1852), marble trout Salmo marmoratus (Cuvier, 1829), Balkan brook trout Salmo farioides (Karaman, 1938), soft-muzzled trout Salmo obtusirostris (Heckel, 1852), Dalmatian roach Rutilus basak (Heckel, 1843), Adriatic dace Squalius svallize (Heckel and Kner, 1858), Neretvan rudd Scardinius plotizza (Heckel and Kner, 1858), Neretvan nase Chondrostoma knerii (Heckel, 1843), Neretvan spined loach Cobitis narentana (Karaman, 1928), Croatian goby Knipowitschia croatica (Mrakovčić et al., 1994). Moreower, ongoing morphological and genetic studies indicate several new fish species presence (Hutovo dwarf goby K. hutove sp. nov., Neretvan dace Squalius un. sp. nov.) as well as from other authors (Neretvan bleak Alburnus neretvae Buj, Šanda et Perea, sp. nova), respectively. Also, the exact systematic status of the local stickleback population Gasterosteus sp. is unclear requesting further investigations. Taxonomic study is currently ongoing. Historical factors, like the origin, formation and evolution of the wetland and ecological ones like local hydrological conditions, may explain such high level complexity of the Hutovo Blato wetland fish fauna. The current status of the Hutovo Blato wetland and wider area fish fauna can be described as threatened under many negative factors affecting the survival of the native, mostly endemic species. Water capacity lowering, habitat degradation to water bodies and the impacts of invasive alien fishes have had a major detrimental impact on the conservation status of indigenous species. Effective habitat protection, together with improved water management and measures to prevent the dispersion of exotic species are particulary important in order to protect high ichthyofaunal diversity of this wetland.

endemical ichthyofauna; Hutovo Blato wetland; conservation

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