Review of the recent findings on the ichthyofauna of the Prut river, Republic of Moldova

The investigations carried out in 2010-2022 in the Prut River basin within territorial limits of the Republic of Moldova revealed an ichthyofaunistic diversity consisting of 62 species from 13 orders and 22 families, of which 14 species are considered endemic to the Danube basin. A new species was identified in the Prut River in 2010 – Gymnocephalus baloni (Holcík & Hensel, 1974). Later, in 2015, the species Benthophilus nudus (Berg, 1898) was recorded for the first time in the Prut River, and in 2022 – Rutilus virgo (Heckel, 1852). The obvious biological progression of Gobiidae species in last decades is an alarming sign related to the stability of native ichthyocenoses. The analysis of the flow, spatial, trophic and reproductive preferences of fish denoted that most of species are eurytopic, benthic, omnivorous, lithophilous or phytophilous.