The western tubenose goby is one of the most wide-spread invasive fish species in European freshwaters, though information of its life-history in relation to its invasion success is limited. We compared the reproductive traits, growth rate and condition of three populations that differed in their stage of invasion in its expanding range in the River Vistula: core - the oldest population established at the centre of the invasive range; intermediate - long established by downstream dispersal from the core area but continuously supplemented by drifting specimens; front - new population at the edge of the invasive range, upstream from the core area. Pronounced differences in life-history traits were found between the ‘core’ and the ‘front’ populations. The ‘front’ population displayed high investment in reproduction and had heavier gonads, higher fecundity, higher batch fecundity though smaller eggs than the ‘core’ population. The ‘core’ population was characterized by the lowest fecundity, the largest eggs, the highest condition after spawning, and the highest maximum age of males. The ‘intermediate’ population was intermediate between the ‘front’ and the ‘core’ populations regarding reproductive traits, but showed the highest growth rates. The life-history traits that varied most among populations were gonad weight, fecundity, gonado-somatic index, condition and growth in the first years of life. Inter-individual variability of life-history traits was lower in the front of the invasive range than in the core and intermediate area. The observed plasticity in life-history appears to favour production of large numbers of offspring in newly-colonised areas in the initial stages of invasion and at the edge of the expanding range. In longer-established populations, at the core of invasive range, a strategy for greater competitiveness under intra-specific competition appears to be favoured.

西部块头go鱼是欧洲淡水中最广泛传播的入侵鱼类之一，尽管有关其成功入侵的生命史信息有限。我们在维斯杜拉河的扩张范围内比较了三个处于入侵阶段的种群的生殖特性，生长速度和状况：核心-处于入侵范围中心的最老种群；中级-由核心区域的下游扩散建立的，但由漂移样本不断补充；前部-处于侵入范围边缘，核心区域上游的新种群。在“核心”和“前线”人群之间发现了生活史特征的明显差异。“前线”人群在生殖方面投资高，性腺较重，与“核心”种群相比，虽然卵子较小，但繁殖力较高，分批繁殖力较高。“核心”种群的特征是最低的繁殖力，最大的卵，产卵后的最高状况以及最高的雄性最大年龄。就生殖性状而言，“中级”人群介于“前线”人群和“核心”人群之间，但增长率最高。在人口中，生活史特征变化最大的是性腺的体重，生殖力，性腺的躯体指数，生命的最初几年的状况和生长。生活史特征的个体间差异在侵入范围的前部比核心和中间区域低。在入侵史的初期和扩展范围的边缘，在生活史上观察到的可塑性似乎有利于在新殖民化地区生产大量后代。在入侵范围较广的老龄化人群中，似乎倾向于在种内竞争下提高竞争能力的战略。