Impacts of the Introduced Round Goby (Apollonia melanostoma) on Dreissenids (Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena bugensis) and on Macroinvertebrate Community between 2003 and 2006 in the Littoral Zone of Green Bay, Lake Michigan

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 690-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda M. Lederer ◽  
John Janssen ◽  
Tara Reed ◽  
Amy Wolf

Colonization by dreissenid mussels, <em>Dreissena polymorpha </em>(Zebra) and <em>Dreissena bugensis </em>(Quagga), is one of the more ecologically important events to occur in the Great Lakes during the last decade. Since their introduction into the Great Lakes, dreissenids have colonized both soft and hard substrates to depths of 80 m and reached average densities of 40,000 mussels m<sup>-2</sup> in the littoral zone. Because of high densities and widespread distribution, they have modified habitats for benthos and fishes and fostered growth and proliferation of non-indigenous species, such as the round goby and a Black Sea amphipod, <em>Echinogammarus</em>. In 2001, we used multibeam sonar to characterize the benthic habitat in Lake Michigan and acoustic remote sensing technology (sidescan sonar and acoustic bottom classification) to extend and extrapolate information on dreissenid distributions from spatially limited observations. These observations were combined with discrete in situ (video and SCUBA) observations in a geographic information system (GIS). We used this system to link dreissenid distribution with substrate type, morphology and depth. These data are critical inputs to modeling the ecological implications of dreissenid filtering on algal biomass and composition in the Great Lakes over changing environmental conditions.


<em>Abstract.</em>—Burbot <em>Lota lota </em>is a native species of cod (Gadidae) found in the coldwater regions of all five Laurentian Great Lakes. Burbot age-at-length data from along western Lake Huron showed that fish reached 18 years of age. Fish age 7 and younger grew more slowly in southern Lake Huron than in north-central and northern Lake Huron, while this trend was reversed for fish ≥ 8 years old. Burbot growth and diet data were recorded for fish collected near Leland, Fairport, and Bridgman (D. C. Cook nuclear power plant), Michigan and Washington Island, Wisconsin in Lake Michigan and Alpena, Michigan in northern Lake Huron to determine changes in growth and diet with the recent invasion of the nonindigenous round goby <em>Neogobius melanostomus</em>. We compared burbot growth at four length intervals (500–800 mm) among these locations and found significantly lower growth at Alpena compared with the other sites; burbot from Bridgman at 500 and 600 mm were the lightest among all sites. Burbot diets have changed substantially in some areas from native fish and invertebrate species to a diet that includes large proportions of the nonindigenous round goby (77% by wet weight in Lake Huron near Alpena, 53% in Lake Michigan near Fairport). Establishment of round gobies in the open waters of the Great Lakes is likely to change coldwater food webs, including replacement of sculpins (<em>Cottus </em>spp.) at depths up to 70 m, where round gobies have been found. Burbot, whose diets were composed of large amounts of round gobies, showed lower growth, and there is a potential for decreased bioaccumulation of toxic substances because round gobies consume zebra mussels <em>Dreissena polymorpha </em>and quagga mussels <em>D. bugensis</em>, which are lower in the food chain than organisms that native species eat.


1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane R. Achman ◽  
Keri C. Hornbuckle ◽  
Steven J. Eisenreich

Author(s):  
Andrew L. Ransom ◽  
Christopher J. Houghton ◽  
S. Dale Hanson ◽  
Scott P. Hansen ◽  
Lydia R. Doerr ◽  
...  

Chemosphere ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 2079-2084 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.E. Tillitt ◽  
T.J. Kubiak ◽  
G.T. Ankley ◽  
J.P. Giesy

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 851-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brice K. Grunert ◽  
Shelby L. Brunner ◽  
Sajad A. Hamidi ◽  
Hector R. Bravo ◽  
J. Val Klump

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