Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) stock structure in Lake Michigan: an analysis using mark–recapture data

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (9) ◽  
pp. 1919-1930 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Glover ◽  
John M. Dettmers ◽  
David H. Wahl ◽  
David F. Clapp
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Site Fidelity ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Stock Structure ◽  
Mark Recapture ◽  
Southern Basin ◽  
Spawning Site ◽  
Stock Differentiation

To evaluate the stock structure of yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ) in the southern basin of Lake Michigan and in Green Bay, we analyzed recaptures from a lake-wide mark–recapture study implemented from 1996 to 2001 to infer the range and pattern of movement and spawning-site fidelity. Yellow perch generally moved south along the western shoreline, west along the southern shoreline, and north along the eastern shoreline during summer and non-summer months; the magnitude of movement was greater after spawning. Spawning yellow perch frequently returned to the same site, with 35%–80% of recaptured individuals returning to their marking site. Results from multiple tagging sites within Illinois indicated that spawners may return to larger areas rather than to specific sites, suggesting that large spawning complexes exist. Despite strong fidelity in some areas, straying was evident from all sites during spawning, resulting in mixing throughout the southern basin. Such mixing could promote gene flow and diminish stock differentiation. Dispersal of yellow perch within the southern basin of Lake Michigan occurred regularly across adjacent management boundaries. Therefore, adjacent jurisdictions may wish to consider re-examining their regulations based on this information to ensure consistent, complementary regulations that incorporate the movement patterns of yellow perch.

Additional Evidence Supporting Demic Behaviour of a Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Population

1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (10) ◽  
pp. 1959-1962 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. Aalto ◽  
G. E. (Buck) Newsome
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Egg Masses ◽  
Spawning Site ◽  
Spawning Behaviour ◽  
Additional Support

To test the hypothesis that yellow perch (Perca flavescens) return to their natal location to spawn, the following experimental manipulations were performed. During the years 1978 through 1989, the egg-masses deposited by females along isobathic transects at a number of sites in Lochaber Lake were counted. During the years 1984 through 1987, egg-masses were removed from one of the sites in the lake during the spawning seasons. There was a statistically significant reduction in the proportion of egg-masses deposited within the boundaries of the site from which the egg-masses were removed. The analysis strongly suggests that the model of perch spawning behaviour which assumes that any perch selects a spawning site independently of its natal site may be rejected. This result provides additional support for the hypothesis that yellow perch exhibit demic behaviour.

scholarly journals Maternal effects as a recruitment mechanism in Lake Michigan yellow perch (Perca flavescens)

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 1477-1487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J Heyer ◽  
Thomas J Miller ◽  
Fred P Binkowski ◽  
Elaine M Caldarone ◽  
James A Rice
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Effects ◽  
Null Hypothesis ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Gonadosomatic Index ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
High Fecundity ◽  
Larval Traits

Changes that occurred in the distribution of adult Lake Michigan yellow perch (Perca flavescens) phenotypic traits suggest that maternal effects on larval traits may be substantially influencing the recruitment of this heavily exploited species. We investigated maternal effects on yellow perch larvae at hatching in 10 maternal lines to test the null hypothesis of no effect of maternal phenotype on offspring phenotype and condition. Analyses lead to a rejection of the null hypothesis and indicated that the observed maternal effects likely resulted from differences among females in size, age, gonadosomatic index, and egg production. The observed maternal effects were expressed in the offspring by differences in larval total length, yolk volume, dry weight, and DNA quantity. Older, larger females were found to have high fecundity, yet low gonadosomatic index. Furthermore, older, larger females produced offspring that were, on average, short with large yolk sacs and high quantities of body reserves, as measured by dry weight and total DNA content. We conclude that the distribution of Lake Michigan yellow perch larval traits at hatching is linked to maternal influences and that this linkage may provide a mechanism through which managers can help rebuild the population.

scholarly journals Dynamics of the Lake Michigan food web, 1970–2000

2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 736-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles P Madenjian ◽  
Gary L Fahnenstiel ◽  
Thomas H Johengen ◽  
Thomas F Nalepa ◽  
Henry A Vanderploeg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis

Herein, we document changes in the Lake Michigan food web between 1970 and 2000 and identify the factors responsible for these changes. Control of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) populations in Lake Michigan, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, had profound effects on the food web. Recoveries of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and burbot (Lota lota) populations, as well as the buildup of salmonine populations, were attributable, at least in part, to sea lamprey control. Based on our analyses, predation by salmonines was primarily responsible for the reduction in alewife abundance during the 1970s and early 1980s. In turn, the decrease in alewife abundance likely contributed to recoveries of deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and burbot populations during the 1970s and 1980s. Decrease in the abundance of all three dominant benthic macroinvertebrate groups, including Diporeia, oligochaetes, and sphaeriids, during the 1980s in nearshore waters ([Formula: see text]50 m deep) of Lake Michigan, was attributable to a decrease in primary production linked to a decline in phosphorus loadings. Continued decrease in Diporeia abundance during the 1990s was associated with the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) invasion, but specific mechanisms for zebra mussels affecting Diporeia abundance remain unidentified.

Helminth communities of yellow perch (Perca flavescens (Mitchill)): determinants of pattern

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 538-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
J P Carney ◽  
T A Dick
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Trophic Status ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Green Bay ◽  
Parasite Communities

Twenty-eight parasite species were recorded from 504 yellow perch (Perca flavescens) collected from Dauphin Lake and Beaufort Lake, Manitoba, and Lake Winnebago, Green Bay, and Lake Michigan, Wisconsin. Four parasite species, Diplostomum spp., Urocleidus adspectus, Proteocephalus pearsei, and Raphidascaris acus, occurred in perch from all localities. Infracommunities and component communities were low in richness. The Dauphin Lake and Beaufort Lake samples had the richest parasite communities, while those in the Green Bay and Lake Michigan samples were the least rich. The effect of host size and age on parasite community structure was equivocal. A positive association between P. pearsei and Bothriocephalus cuspidatus and more multispecies infracommunities than expected provide evidence of nonrandom associations in the Manitoba samples, while the Wisconsin infracommunities were random associations. Significant infracommunity nestedness in all samples indicated nonrandom community organization and structure. Parasite faunas were richer in samples with complex invertebrate communities than in samples with complex fish communities. The trophic status of the aquatic system indirectly affected the parasite communities by limiting the variety of potential intermediate hosts. Predictions regarding relationships between parasite community structure and lake trophic status were not supported. We show that predictable patterns at the fine-scale local level of the parasite infracommunity and component communities of perch are best explained by a rich invertebrate community upon which the host feeds.

Complementarity in the Use of Food and Thermal Habitat by Lake Michigan Fishes

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 662-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry B. Crowder ◽  
John J. Magnuson ◽  
Stephen B. Brandt
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Thermal Habitat ◽  
Young Of The Year

The potential for ecological segregation of Lake Michigan fishes was examined by comparing diets and thermal habitat use of common species. Samples were collected by bottom trawling (N = 68) off Grand Haven, Michigan, September 7–13, 1977. Five common species exhibited complementarity in the use of food and thermal habitat resources. During the day, adult alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) had similar diets but occupied somewhat different thermal habitats. Young-of-the-year (YOY) alewives segregated from adult alewife and rainbow smelt on both habitat and food. Spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius), YOY alewives, and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) used similar thermal habitats but fed on different prey. Trout-perch (Percopsis osmiscomaycus) tended to segregate from the others based on both food and thermal habitat but may experience diffuse competition. Adults of the three native species consume entirely different prey than exotic alewife and rainbow smelt. The native species which declined during the invasion of alewife and rainbow smelt were those with apparently similar habitat and food requirements to the exotics. These data suggest that competition is important in maintaining the structure of the Lake Michigan fish community.Key words: competition, fishes, food, habitat, Lake Michigan, predation, temperature

Changes in Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Populations of Lake Michigan, 1954–75

1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1821-1829 ◽  
Author(s):  
LaRue Wells
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Commercial Production ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Exploitation Competition ◽  
Sport Fishery ◽  
High Production

In the early and mid-1960s the abundance of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in Lake Michigan declined abruptly. The decline began in the northern part of the lake and spread progressively southward. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the nonnative alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), by interfering with perch reproduction, was the primary cause of the decline. The alewife was first reported in northeastern Lake Michigan in 1949, and had become extremely abundant throughout the lake before an enormous die-off in 1967 reduced its numbers by an estimated 70%. An intensive fishery hastened the decline of perch. In most areas the decline was immediately preceded by a period of conspicuously high commercial production. This high production appears to have been related in part to increased growth rates of perch resulting from much lower density of younger fish. A sport fishery for perch in shallow water collapsed a few years before the species declined in abundance. The most logical explanation is that heavy concentrations of alewives physically displaced the perch from nearshore areas. Although perch populations increased in some areas in the 1970s, a full recovery is unlikely unless alewife numbers are further reduced. Key words: Percidae, Lake Michigan, Perca, population dynamics, exploitation, competition

Distribution of Larval Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens) in Nearshore Waters of Southeastern Lake Michigan

1983 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Perrone ◽  
Philip J. Schneeberger ◽  
David J. Jude
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Perca Flavescens
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