Conference announcement:
The Fish of Muddy Waters
Mudminnows, mud Ioaches & Co.

Including: Second International Workshop on Umbra krameri

When: Oct. 23 - Oct. 26, 2025
Where: Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria

During the first international workshop on Umbra krameri, exactly 30 years ago, we collected the knowledge at the time regarding the distribution, conservation, and biology of the species throughout its range in central and eastern Europe. Since then, significant progress has been made warranting a second, follow-up workshop summarizing gains in knowledge and experience accumulated during recent decades. We decided to expand the topic to include other wetland fish species, natives like the European weatherfish (=mud Ioach, Misgurnus fossilis), crucian carp (Carassius carassius) and sunbleak (Leucaspius delineatus) as well as non-native newcomers, adapted to marginal habitats of flood Plains and wetlands for which those species are excellent indicators of ecological integrity.

Because such habitats and ecosystems are highly endangered, wetland fish of muddy waters are definitely in peril (Smejkal et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110948) — they are getting the blues!