A Weight-length Relationship of the Amur Sleeper (Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877) (Odontobutidae) in the Danube River Drainage Canal, Serbia

Abstract

The Amur sleeper (Perccottus glenii), an indigenous species to the Russian Far East, northern China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, is an invasive alien species to European waters. It may have negative impact on eggs and larvae of native fish species, aquatic macroinvertebrate and larval amphibians. There were few findings of the Amur sleeper specimens in Serbia during 2001-2003, while the first record of established population was in the Danube River flood plain (1139 river km) in 2005. Our study included 85 specimens from the Danube River canal near Veliko Gradište, Serbia, caught in two consecutive years (November 2015 and October 2016), with the aim to assess the weight-length relationship of this population. Body length of specimens ranged from 35.78 mm to 140.68 mm, while body weight ranged from 0.5 g to 40 g. The age of specimens was 0+, 1+ and 2+. Length-weight analysis did not show differences between regression slopes of samples from the two years, with b values of 3.317 and 3.113 for 2015 and 2016, respectively.