Vol. 77 (1) 2025

ARTICLES

First Record of the Western Greece Goby Economidichthys pygmaeus (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) in the Pinios River (Greece). Is it the First Freshwater Greek Endemic that will Spread to Eastern Europe?

Yiannis Kapakos*, Ioannis Leris, Nectarios Kalaitzakis, Konstantinos Fytilis,
Petros Kouraklis & Eleni Kalogianni

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*Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 46.7 km Athens-Sounio Ave., Anavissos, 19013 Attica, Greece; Emails: ykapakos@gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.71424/azb77.1.002810

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Abstract
Freshwater fish translocations (the movement of species across zoogeographical boundaries within the same country) are a largely overlooked issue regarding invasive species. This is the first record of a self-reproducing, translocated population of the Western Greece goby Economidichthys pygmaeus (Holly, 1929) in the Macedonia-Thessaly Ecoregion (Central-Eastern Greece). The species in known to spread rapidly throughout Greece from its native habitats in Western Greece (Ionian Ecoregion) over the recent decades. However, its small size and cryptic behaviour makes its detection challenging. Economidichthys pygmaeus survives in a wide range of temperatures, indicating a strong potential for survival if it spreads further north on the Balkans. The possible impacts of this invasive goby on native gobies include trophic competition and disease transmission.

Key words
Cryptic invasive fish, freshwater gobies, fish translocation, river ecology

How to Cite
Kapakos Y., Leris I., Kalaitzakis N., Fytilis K., Kouraklis P. & Kalogianni E. – First record of the Western Greece goby Economidichthys pygmaeus (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) in the Pinios River (Greece). Is it the first freshwater Greek endemic that will spread to Eastern Europe?. 2025. Acta zoologica bulgarica 77 (1) 49-54.

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