| Summary: | The invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus, Pallas, 1814) has
increased its European range dramatically over recent decades, with international shipping
suspected as the main vector. Here, we provide the first population and morphological data
for a newly established round goby population in the upper Elbe (Ústí nad Labem, Czech
Republic). Surveys in 2013 along the same stretch found no evidence of gobies, indicating
introduction within the past two years. Analysis of morphological similarity confirms the
most likely source as the recently established population in the tidal Elbe near the port
of Hamburg. Due to the species’ restricted range (<15 km; with density localised on Ústí
nad Labem port), distance from proposed source (600 km; no reports from the intervening
stretch) and the speed with which this distance was crossed (less than three years), we
suggest port-to-port transfer as the most likely vector route. Our data highlight the
speed with which this species has been able to colonise most watersheds in Europe
via establishment of widely-separated populations through port-to-port
transfer and rapid inter-site connection through downstream drift and natural migration.
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