A fish on the trail of Genghis Khan

In the world of fish Topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva, a small cyprinid native to East China, has matched and gone beyond the great Mongol invasion, resulting in the vast range expansion covering much of Asia, Europe and now with a foothold in North Africa. The stealth invasion started in the 1950’s with the end of the Chinese civil war (from around 1840 to 1949) which had restricted human population mobility and trade. At that time, there was an increasing need for developing new sources of animal protein and black carp, grass carp, silver carp and big head carp were rapidly introduced from East China especially from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin to many other places including Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu and Xinjiang. This species had been cultured traditionally in East China for a long time with specific culturing techniques. These carp introductions for aquaculture have been the beachhead of topmouth gudgeon’s great escape.

Small in size (maximum length circa 9cm), highly fecund with batch spawning and nest guarding behaviour and highly tolerant to environmental changes, topmouth gudgeon has all the attributes of a successful invader. Its first introduction outside of China was in reservoirs and ponds around the black sea as part of a fish farming agreement between China and the former Eastern block. Following long distances and hitchhiking cross country with movements of carp, it rapidly escaped and colonised local waters, dominating communities in ponds and lakes. Recently identified as a healthy carrier of a deadly non-species specific eukaryotic parasite Sphaerothecum destruens, it now poses a threat to European fish diversity.

Preserved material will be compared to material collected from populations established from the first introduction in each country within the non-native range. Topmouth gudgeon has been introduced for several decades to countries with clear contrasting climatic conditions such as Poland, Italy and Algeria. This will provide a unique opportunity to study adaptation under contrasting climatic conditions. Populations will be compared for their life history traits and parasitic communities as well as their population genetic structure within native range but also across introduced range. In addition, live topmouth gudgeon will be brought back from China and various parts of the non-native range to characterise the reaction norms of different populations along thermal gradients. Individual fitness, measured as the number of reproductive events, size of batches and larval growth will be measured for several contrasting populations under a range of controlled thermal challenges. This will allow the evolutionary and phenotypic shift that has occurred during topmouth gudgeon invasion to be measured.

Beyond the immediate scientific interest this expedition represents a cultural and historical journey where an innocent movement of fish from the East coast to the West part of China has rippled all the way to England 50 years later.

The TEAM

ALL ALONG THE EXPEDITION I WILL KEEP THE BLOG ALIVE SO GET IN TOUCH, ASK QUESTIONS AND I WILL BE AS REACTIVE AS POSSIBLE TAKING YOU ALONG THE JOURNEY. :-)

Sunday 4 July 2010

Day 20

Today we have tried to catch up with our schedule and have driven over 850 km. So far we have driven 9723km and we should have another 5000km to do before our return to Beijing. We are now in Cangzou in the South East of Beijing. Our destination is the North Korean border where we have one of our sites. Tomorrow we will pass the start of the Great Wall near Qinhuangdao. Today on our way we crossed another section of the Great Wall near Jingxing. It is always worrying to see Yah our driver to drive for so long with the heat (37°C), I am always worried that he is going to nod off so I try to keep awake at the back, looking in the mirror for some early signs of fatigue… We stopped on our way to Taiyan the capital of Shānxī Province to have the car serviced. It’s good in China, there is no need for an appointment, you arrive, they do the job on the spot (filter + brakes in our case) and you have a room with TV and a bay window to look at the mechanics mending your car. It gives you more confidence that they are actually doing the job they say they do, not like in England!
Today all our discussions were about the defeat of Argentina, we have redone the match more than once. There is no other way of seeing it, Germany played really well. Rob pointed out that England at least scored two goals which made the defeat more respectable. I received a text from Bernd at 00.30 blowing his trumpet from his hotel in Beijing (fair play). I have to say that Rafa said it all along but I just didn’t believe him. Now the last few matches will be in the middle of the night for us so we will see the highlights during breakfast. I have a PhD student who is now in S. Africa instead of doing his fieldwork. Sui , I know you are following us from down there, come back!
Finally, a month before we were at Guilin university (where I gave the lecture) there was a visit of Gerardus’t Hooft nobel prize winner in Physics and his wife. He wrote “to the children of Guilin, please be curious about the world you live in; dream about your future, and plan to excel in whatever your ambitions will be”. I found it so beautiful that I wanted to share it with you as it is also so close to my thoughts.
Rudy
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2 comments:

  1. Unknown5 July 2010 at 12:06

    Rodolphe Shalom! Love the quote! Keep living your life pursuant to that philosophy and every day will be an adventure. We enjoy following your expedition through your eyes and words. We're proud of you, love you and think about you every day. Stay well and good luck! Jeff, Marielle & Co.

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  2. Anonymous6 July 2010 at 10:30

    Vous faites seulement de la voiture, ou vous pechez aussi des poissons?
    Fred

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