Vig Károly: Zoological Research in Western Hungary. A history (Szombathely, 2003)

Phylum Vertebrata 161 wards to the Repce and Rábca and southwards to the Mura catchment area. Counting collection points at the mouth of the Rába, Hungarian and Austrian scientists have examined the ichthyofauna over a stretch 150 km long as the crow flies. Fish stocks in the River Lapines (Lafnitz) were examined on the Austrian side under a project of the University of Vienna (1991-2) by GERALD ZAUNER and GERHARD WOSCHITZ, and on the Hungarian side by GERHARD WOSCHITZ and ANTAL VIDA. The manuscript report cites the occurrence of 39 fish species in the Austrian stretch close to Hungary (LAZOWSKI 1992). The ichthyofauna of the Strém (Strem) Brook was examined under the Strém Project in 1994-5 by GERHARD WOSCHITZ, OSKAR TIEFENBACH and ANTAL VIDA. The presence of 33 fish species was demonstrated (WOSCHITZ 1995). The Mura system was examined on the Slovenian side by META POVZ (1991). His manuscript cites 36 fish species in the river. A short communication from ÁKOS HARKA (1992b) also contains data on fish fauna in the Mura. Worth mentioning is the occurrence of Kessler's gudgeon (Gobio kessleri) at Szemenyecsörnye, which was a first not only for the Mura, but for the whole Dráva (Drava) system. However, it has not been possible to confirm this since (SALLAI 1999). The latest investigations were by ZOLTÁN SALLAI (1999). Altogether 7212 specimens of 48 species and 1 hybrid were examined as a good representative sample of the river's ichthyofauna. The same author dealt with the fish of the Dráva-Mura system in another publication, which repeats the records for the Mura (SALLAI 2002). During an examination of watercourses of the West Hungarian border region in 1988-96, a research team found 45 fish species at 71 collection points (VIDA 1997). The most interesting findings can be summarized as follows. Sterlets (Acipenser ruihenus) count as rare in the Mura district and are known in the Rába below Nick (HARKA 1992). They also occur in the Moson Danube near the Rába mouth (VIDA 1993). Brown trout (Salmo trutta m. fario) occur in the upper reaches of all Western Hungarian rivers examined, but in general, their distribution in Hungary is sporadic. Self-sustaining populations have been recorded in the Gyöngyös above Kőszeg, in a few streams in the Őrség district and in the Pinka. There are self-sustaining populations of Eurasian minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus) in some Őrség streams, but they probably stray into the Rába only in times of flooding. The golden-spined loach (Sabanejewia aurata) is common in the Rába system but do not occur in the Pinka above Szentpéterfa, either in Hungary or in Austria. KATALIN KERESZTESSY (1993a) reported an occurrence in the Pinka, but without specifying the location. Weatherfish (Misgurnus fossilis) probably occur everywhere in the marshes and backwaters of the region where conditions are suitable. The schraetzer (Gymnocephalus schraetzer), a protected species, occurs in significant numbers in the Rába catchment area. Of special importance in Hungarian terms is the Rába population of zingels (Zingel zingel), which occur in faster-moving stretches right down to the mouth. Numbers of the Danube stréber (Z. streher) in the Rába increase steadily going upstream from Nick to the Austrian border, with peak densities in the Lapines around Szent-