“Journey to the West”: Three Phylogenetic Lineages Contributed to the Invasion of Stone Moroko, Pseudorasbora parva (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae)

Abstract—The stone moroko (or topmouth gudgeon), Pseudorasbora parva, is one of the most successful invasive species in the fresh waters of Europe and some regions of Asia. We analyzed the diversity of the mitochondrial COI gene in the genus Pseudorasbora and, in particular, in populations of P. parva from its native range (the Far East) and areas of recent dispersal. Four phylogenetic lineages of stone moroko were identified within its native range, and three of them contributed to the dispersal within more western regions of Eurasia. One of these lineages was initially distributed in the north of China and the Far East of Russia, the second one was in southern China, the third one was in the Korean Peninsula and, probably, in the adjacent regions of China. Geographical distribution of COI lineages suggests three donor regions of stone moroko invasions into more western regions of Eurasia: the basin of the Yangtze River, the northern (Russian) part of the Amur River basin, and the Sungari River basin (right tributary of the Amur in the territory of China).