| Summary: | Bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), silver carp (H. molitrix) and their hybrids (collectively referred as Asian carps−AC) are primarily planktivorous cyprinid fishes that have been introduced into more than 30 countries around the world, including Hungary. However, recent studies demonstrated that AC can adversely affect the water quality and native fish populations. In this study, we report on the rate of hybridization, growth parameters and feeding habits of AC, to assess their ecological impacts and life history traits in the oligo-mesotrophic Lake Balaton. We found that the majority of the investigated AC (n=116) were hybrids. In general, hybrid AC with silver carp characteristics dominated the stock (90%), but 10% of individuals exhibited bighead carp phenotype and the proportion of bighead carp genes exceeded 98% in 4 individuals. However, the variance in phenotypes and the rate of hybridization did not influence significantly the feeding habits. Rather, the food composition was determined by the availability of different food resources and the concentration of suspended inorganic particles in the ambient water. Stable isotope analyses and microscopic analyses of gut contents revealed that the vast majority (>99%) of the ingested and metabolised food was zooplankton (mainly Rotifers, Cladocerans and Copepods). Despite the low proportions of algae in the food, we identified 155 phytoplankton taxa in the foregut-contents, among which there were several species (e.g., Scenedesmus spp. and Microcystis spp.) that survived the passage through the guts. Growth rates of AC were intermediate in Lake Balaton, while their condition factors were relatively high compared with other ecosystems. The relatively high condition factors were particularly interesting in the light of the high inorganic matter content of ingested food (43±9% in dry mass). We conclude that the presence of AC is an ecological threat to Lake Balaton, because AC can be important resource competitors of native planktivores.
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