Brown bullhead	Status LU: established. 1st record: 1892.
	Kazewels	Status Eur.: established.
	Barbotte brune	RA: ISEIA: C1. Harmonia+: n/a.
	Katzenwels	Wikipedia:     | Wikispecies:
	Bruine dwergmeerval	Back to the list of vertebrates

Report the species

→ Report Ameiurus nebulosus to the National Museum of Natural History.

Brief description

Ameiurus nebulosus Lesueur, 1819 is a fish species that lives in standing and slow-running waters where it can cope with low oxygen levels, water pollution and high temperatures. The omnivorous species can form very dense populations and is able to dominate freshwater fish communities. The diet of large-sized bullheads has been found to consist almost exclusively of juvenile fishes. Although there is some concern about its strong competitive and predatory ability, it is difficult to find hard evidence of species displacement or ecosystem disruption.

Status and distribution in Luxembourg

In Luxembourg, Ameiurus nebulosus Lesueur, 1819 was first documented as early as 1892 (21st January 1892) in a pond in Diekirch (Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 1892 cit. in Feltgen 1902: 101).

In 2005, two adults and 300 juveniles were caught in the Moselle river in Stadtbredimus while some 500 juveniles were observed the same year in the marina near Schwebsange. No other river in Luxembourg seems to be populated by the species.

There is no distribution map available because no data has been entered into the Recorder-Lux database so far (MNHNL, iNaturalist & GBIF 2020).

Risk assessment

ISEIA protocol

C1 (1+1+2+2) (Ries et al. 2014: 199).

Harmonia+ protocol

Not assessed yet.

Worldwide distribution

Bibliography

• Administration de la gestion de l’eau, 2010. Les poissons au Luxembourg : Cartographie des poissons, lamproies et écrevisses du grand-duché de Luxembourg. 2e éd., 213 pp.
• Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 2 (1892): 3.
• Feltgen, E., 1902. Vademecum des Luxemburger Fischereiliebhabers. P. Worré-Mertens, Luxemburg. 148 S.
• GBIF, 2019. Ameiurus nebulosus (Lesueur, 1819) in GBIF Secretariat (2019). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2020-04-22.
• MNHNL, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2020. in MNHNL-mdata, online portal combining species observation from Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist and GBIF. National Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg. URL: https://mdata.mnhn.lu [accessed 2020-04-22]
• Ries, C., M. Pfeiffenschneider, Engel, E., J.-C. Heidt & M. Lauff, 2014. Environmental impact assessment and black, watch and alert list classification after the ISEIA Protocol of vertebrates in Luxembourg. Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 115: 195-201. [PDF 247 KB]