Cyclostomates and fishes of the Drawa River within the limits of the Drawieński National Park

Abstract

Part of the lower Drawa River between Dubie Lake and the Płociczna River mouth, stretching for a distance of 38.8 km, belongs to the Drawieński National Park, established in 1990. Electrofishing conducted on the 8 river stretches within the park limits yielded a total of 26 fish species and one cyclostomate species. The leading species appeared to be the roach, with the domination level reaching 56.16%. The other abundant species were: burbot (D = 7.81%), silver bream (D = 6.88%), and perch (D = 5.95%). The remaining species occurred in smaller numbers. The Drawa River within the Park limits is inhabited by 3 species of the family Cyprinidae: minnow-Phoxinus phoxinus, schneider-Alburnoides bipunctatus, and bitterling-Rhodeus sericeus amarus, all under strict protection and one cyclostomate species of the family Petromyzonidae-river lamprey-Lampetra fluviatilis, protected at the stage of larval development.