Introduction

General description

Project description

Sampling methods

Sampling description: 

Fish specimens were collected at 46 sites of the Irtysh River Basin and 30 sites of the Ulungur River Basin from 2013 to 2022 (Fig. 1). Samples were collected by hand net (dense mesh), cast net (aperture 1 cm×1 cm, diameter 5 m, length 3.5 m) and traps (aperture 0.5 cm×0.5 cm, length 10 m) in a variety of aquatic environments. Samples were collected by hand net and cast net in fast-flowing and shallow waters. Traps were used in slow-flowing waters and pools. Four traps were usually placed at the sampling point for 12 h overnight. The collection time using the hand nets is one hour. When using cast-net sampling, a single sampling point is collected for 30 minutes. The specimens were fixed in 95% ethanol or 10% formaldehyde solution in the field. Coordinates of sampling localities were recorded by hand-held GPS locator. The specimens were stored in 75% ethanol in the National Zoological Museum, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIZB).

Figure 1.  

Location of the sampling sites.

Geographic coverage

Taxonomic coverage

Description: 

In total, four orders, nine families, 12 genera and 13 non-native fish were collected in the Irtysh River Basin (Chinese section) and the Ulungur River Basin. Specimen photos of the non-native fish species are presented in Fig. 2.

Figure 2.  

Specimen photos of some fish species collected from the Irtysh River Basin (Chinese section) and the Ulungur River Basin. a Abramis brama (Linnaeus, 1758); b Sander lucioperca (Linnaeus, 1758); c Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes, 1844); d Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758; e Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758); f Abbottina rivularis (Basilewsky, 1855); g Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck & Schlegel, 1846); h Hypomesus olidus (Pallas, 1814); i Micropercops swinhonis (Günther, 1873); j Misgurnus dabryanus (Dabry de Thiersant, 1872); k Triplophysa strauchii (Kessler, 1874); l Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Cantor, 1842); m Hedinichthys minuta (Li, 1966).

Traits coverage

Temporal coverage

Collection data

Usage licence

Data resources

Additional information

Thirteen non-native fish species in these two river basins account for 44.8% of the total fish species that we surveyed. Cypriniformes is the predominant order, accounting for 76.9% of the total number of non-native fish species. Perciformes, Gobiiformes and Osmeriformes account for 7.7% of the total number of non-native fish species, respectively (Fig. 3).

Figure 3.  

The fish composition of the Chinese section of the Irtysh River Basin and the Ulungur River Basin at the order level.

The introduction information about the 13 non-native fish species in this survey is shown in Table 1. Cyprinus carpio was introduced to Lake Zaysan of the Irtysh River by the former Soviet Union in 1934 and 1935 and then it spread to the Irtysh River of China (Guo et al. 2003). Abramis brama and Sander lucioperca, both naturally distributed in the Caspian Sea Basin (Fricke et al. 2022), were introduced to the Iset River Basin of Russia by the former Soviet Union from 1959 to 1964 (Ren et al. 2002). Then they rapidly expanded to the Chinese section of the Irtysh River and Ulungur Lake after its artificial connection to the Irtysh River in 1970 (Ren et al. 2002). Hypomesus olidus is naturally distributed in the Arctic Ocean and North Pacific (Fricke et al. 2022). In April 1989, Hypomesus olidus of Shuifeng Reservoir in Liaoning Province was successfully transplanted in Chaiwopu Lake in Urumqi, Xinjiang and then it was transplanted to the Ulungur Lake and other waters of Xinjiang in 1991 (Ren et al. 2002, Chen 2012). In 2013 and 2014, we recorded Misgurnus dabryanus and Misgurnus anguillicaudatus in the Irtysh River Basin for the first time, but not in the Ulungur River Basin. In the 2022 survey, Misgurnus dabryanus and Misgurnus anguillicaudatus were already recorded in the Ulungur River Basin. Ctenopharyngodon Idella and Carassius auratus have been transplanted to the Irtysh River and Ulungur Lake since the 1980s. Meantime, some small-sized fish, such as Pseudorasbora parva, Abbottina rivularis and Micropercops swinhonis, were also brought with those commercial species from eastern China (Jiang and Huo 2013). Triplophysa strauchii and Hedinichthys minuta that found their way into the Irtysh River Basin may have been caused by the introduction of Cyprinus carpio and Carassius auratus from Turpan Fishery in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the 1990s (Xie et al. 2021). To sum up, three fish species were introduced from abroad amongst the 13 non-native fish in the Chinese section of the Irtysh River and Ulungur River Basins, including Cyprinus carpio, Abramis brama and Sander lucioperca. Ten fish species were introduced from other rivers of China, including Misgurnus dabryanus, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Ctenopharyngodon Idella, Carassius auratus, Hypomesus olidus, Pseudorasbora parva, Abbottina rivularis and Micropercops swinhonis, Triplophysa strauchii and Hedinichthys minuta, with the first five being active introduction and the last five being passive introduction.

Table 1.

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The introduction information about the 13 non-native fish species investigated.

Species	Introduction place		Introduction way		Introduction time
	Domestic	Foreign	Active	Passive
Cyprinus carpio		+	+		1934-1935
Abramis brama		+	+		1959-1970
Sander lucioperca		+	+		1959-1970
Ctenopharyngodon Idella	+		+		1980s
Carassius auratus	+		+		1980s
Hypomesus olidus	+		+		1991
Pseudorasbora parva	+			+	1980s
Abbottina rivularis	+			+	1980s
Micropercops swinhonis	+			+	1980s
Triplophysa strauchii	+			+	1990s
Hedinichthys minuta	+			+	1990s
Misgurnus dabryanus	+		+		Uknown
Misgurnus anguillicaudatus	+		+		Uknown

Niche overlap is usually high between native species and non-native species and intense competition may cause the rapid decline and even the extinction of native populations (Hardin 1960, Bøhn et al. 2008). The highly invasive Pseudorasbora parva and Carassius auratus encroach on the ecological niche of native fish to some extent (Zhang et al. 2014). The natural hybrids of the Abramis brama and Rutilus lacustris are all over the Irtysh River and Ulungu Lake (Jiang and Huo 2013). The genetic exchange between the Abramis brama and R. lacustris may lead to the genetic erosion or even the extinction of the R. lacustris (Zeng 2004, Xu et al. 2004). The population of Perca fluviatilis has declined sharply due to the increasing number of Hypomesus olidus that feed on fish eggs in the Ulungur Lake (Tang et al. 2009, Chen 2012). The length range of Leuciscus baicalensis was 19-23 cm and the weight range was 100-180 g in 1961, while the length range of this fish had decreased to 10-15 cm and the average weight range was only 100 g by the 1980s (Wang 1984). This is not only due to the overfishing, but also due to the introduction of non-native species. A total of 16 native fish and 13 non-native fish were investigated in the Chinese section of the Irtysh River and the Ulungur River Basins from 2013 to 2022. Compared with the historical records (22 native species), the number of native species decreased, while non-native species increased (Fig. 4). The number of individuals of non-native fish accounted for an increasing proportion of total catches during the survey period (Fig. 5). The decline in the number of native species is partly due to an increase in non-native species. There are seven rare and endangered fish species in the Chinese section of the Irtysh River Basin and the Ulungur River Basin, i.e. Acipenser baerii, Acipenser ruthenus, Hucho taimen, Stenodus leucichthys, Thymallus arcticus, Cottus dzungaricus and Brachymystax lenok (Zhang and Cao 2021, IUCN 2022). These endangered species account for 31.8% of the total number of native fish species (22 species) in Altay region. There are 14 national and local protected species in total, accounting for 63.6% of the native species in Altay region (Table 2). The proportion of the endangered fish species in the two Basins are even higher than some major rivers basins in China, such as the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers (Cao et al. 2016), indicating that the protection of fish in the Altay region is important in Xinjiang and even to China as a whole. In the future, with the increasing species and quantity of non-native species and the construction of some water conservancy projects, native species will face great pressure to survive. The data we provided are helpful to understand the current distribution of non-native species in Altay region. It can complement the database of non-native species of Xinjiang and even in the country, which plays an essential role in dealing with non-native species invasion and ecological protection construction. Therefore, it is essential to continuously monitor these non-native fish in the Upper Irtysh and the Ulungur Rivers in China and to further explore the specific impacts of these non-native species.

Table 2.

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The information about 14 protected species in the Altay region.

Species	Protection level		Red List of China’s Vertebrates level
	National	Local
Acipenser baerii*	+		CR
Acipenser ruthenus*	+		EN
Hucho taimen	+		EN
Brachymystax lenok	+		EN
Stenodus leucichthys*	+		RE
Thymallus arcticus*	+		VU
Tinca tinca*		+	LC
Leuciscus idus*		+	LC
Gymnocephalus cernua*		+
Cottus dzungaricus*		+	VU
Rutilus lacustris*		+	LC
Lethenteron camtschaticum	+		LC
Carassius Carassius*		+	LC
Lota lota		+	LC
* In China, it is only found naturally in the Chinese section of the Irtysh River and the Ulungur River Basins; RE: Regionally Extinct, CR: Critically Endangered, EN: Endangered, VU: Vulnerable, LC: Least Concern, DD: Data Deficient.

Figure 4.  

The number of native fish species and non-native fish species in different years in the the Chinese section of the Irtysh River Basin and the Ulungur River Basin.

Figure 5.  

The proportion of native fish quantity and non-native fish to total quantity in different years in the the Chinese section of the Irtysh River Basin and the Ulungur River Basin.

Acknowledgements

Author contributions

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