Overview
- Confirmed records now span eleven navigable waters in six states, and reproducing populations are established, according to the Anglerverband Niedersachsen (AVN).
- The first German detection occurred in 2010 in the Mittellandkanal near Braunschweig, with the range enlarging markedly over 15 years.
- An AVN synthesis assessed more than 1,100 catches and over 200 examined fish, with over 98% of detections coming from recreational anglers rather than scientific surveys.
- Biologists say connected waterways such as the Mittellandkanal link formerly separate basins, and they consider colonization of western canals and the Rhine system likely.
- Current risk to native predatory fish is judged low because the species is smaller, reaches about 65 cm, and typically preys on zooplankton early and small gobies later.