Impact of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) invasion on walleye (Sander vitreus) recruitment in Wisconsin lakes

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (11) ◽  
pp. 1543-1550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Mercado-Silva ◽  
Greg G Sass ◽  
Brian M Roth ◽  
Stephen Gilbert ◽  
M Jake Vander Zanden
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Sander Vitreus ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Density Estimates ◽  
Inland Lakes ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Young Of The Year

Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) are invaders of inland lakes in the Laurentian Great Lakes region of North America and have negatively affected native fish populations. Walleye (Sander vitreus) comprise an important fishery throughout the Great Lakes region and could be affected by rainbow smelt invasions. We test for declines of young-of-the-year walleye (YOY-W) density in 12 of the 26 known rainbow smelt invaded lakes in Wisconsin. Invaded lakes showed significantly lower YOY-W densities than uninvaded lakes during the period 1985–2004. In 94% (17/18) of years, YOY-W densities from invaded lakes were lower than those from uninvaded lakes. Declines (~70%) in YOY-W densities were observed in three lakes with data from before and after rainbow smelt invasion. For 10 invaded lakes with more than two YOY-W density estimates between 1985 and 2004, YOY-W densities averaged 13% below expected densities. Our results demonstrate the potential impacts of rainbow smelt invasion on walleye tribal, commercial, and recreational fisheries and highlight the importance of preventing their further spread.

Early Life Stage Mortality Syndrome in Fishes of the Great Lakes and Baltic Sea

1998 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Inland Lakes ◽  
Early Mortality Syndrome ◽  
Thiamine Content

<em>Abstract</em>.—Lake trout <em>Salvelinus namaycush </em>eggs were collected from 18 separate locations in the Great Lakes and inland lakes to evaluate the relationship between diet and egg thiamine content. Thiamine concentrations in the eggs of lake trout whose diet consisted primarily of rainbow smelt <em>Osmerus mordax </em>and alewife <em>Alosa pseudoharengus </em>were one-ninth to one-seventeenth those of eggs of lake trout whose diet lacked either of these two species and was composed of lake herring <em>Coregonus artedi</em>, yellow perch <em>Perca flavescens</em>, cyprinids, or invertebrates. Within the Great Lakes, concentrations of thiamine in the eggs of lake trout increased in the order Ontario, Erie, Michigan, Huron < Superior and reflected the proportion of smelt, alewives, or both in the diet. Of the three forms of thiamine found in eggs, free thiamine was the most important and the form most affected by a diet of alewives or smelt. Collections from inland lakes were similar in terms of thiamine content and its relationship to diet composition. Average free thiamine concentrations in lake trout from Lakes Ontario, Erie, Michigan, and Huron were 1.5 to 4 times a threshold of 0.8 nmol/g that has been associated with the development of a thiamine-responsive early mortality syndrome. In contrast, the concentration of free thiamine in Lake Superior lake trout eggs was 26 times the threshold. We concluded that the reduction in egg thiamine concentrations in lake trout whose diet was primarily smelt or alewives was the result of their high thiaminase content, because published thiamine contents could not explain the patterns observed. Egg thiamine concentrations in lake trout were unaffected by maternal age.

Fish community change in Lake Superior, 1970–2000

2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 1552-1574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles R Bronte ◽  
Mark P Ebener ◽  
Donald R Schreiner ◽  
David S DeVault ◽  
Michael M Petzold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Additional Species ◽  
Community Agencies ◽  
Natural Reproduction

Changes in Lake Superior's fish community are reviewed from 1970 to 2000. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) stocks have increased substantially and may be approaching ancestral states. Lake herring (Coregonus artedi) have also recovered, but under sporadic recruitment. Contaminant levels have declined and are in equilibrium with inputs, but toxaphene levels are higher than in all other Great Lakes. Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control, harvest limits, and stocking fostered recoveries of lake trout and allowed establishment of small nonnative salmonine populations. Natural reproduction supports most salmonine populations, therefore further stocking is not required. Nonnative salmonines will likely remain minor components of the fish community. Forage biomass has shifted from exotic rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) to native species, and high predation may prevent their recovery. Introductions of exotics have increased and threaten the recovering fish community. Agencies have little influence on the abundance of forage fish or the major predator, siscowet lake trout, and must now focus on habitat protection and enhancement in nearshore areas and prevent additional species introductions to further restoration. Persistence of Lake Superior's native deepwater species is in contrast to other Great Lakes where restoration will be difficult in the absence of these ecologically important fishes.

Planktivory by alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) on microcrustacean zooplankton and dreissenid (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae) veligers in southern Lake Ontario

1995 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 925-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward L. Mills ◽  
Connie Adams ◽  
Robert O'Gorman ◽  
Randall W. Owens ◽  
Edward F. Roseman
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Consumption Rates ◽  
South Shore ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Veliger Larvae

The objective of this study was to describe the diet of young-of-the-year and adult alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) in nearshore waters coincident with the colonization of Lake Ontario by Dreissena. Laboratory experiments and field observations indicated that alewife and rainbow smelt consumed dreissenid veligers and that the veligers remained intact and identifiable in the digestive tract for several hours. Dreissenid larvae were found in field-caught alewife and rainbow smelt in August 1992, even though veliger densities were low (<0.1/L). Zooplankton dominated the diet of all fish and veliger larvae were <0.1% of the biomass of prey eaten by these fish. Density of veligers and the distribution of settled dreissenids declined from west to east along the south shore of Lake Ontario. Based on veliger consumption rates we measured and the abundance of veligers and planktivores, we conclude that planktivory by alewife and smelt in the nearshore waters of Lake Ontario did not substantially reduce the number of veligers during 1991–1993. However, our results indicate that if the density of veligers in Lake Ontario decreases, and if planktivores remain abundant, planktivory on veliger populations could be significant.

Early Life Stage Mortality Syndrome in Fishes of the Great Lakes and Baltic Sea

1998 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Species Variation ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Thiamine Content ◽  
Lake Variation

<em>Abstract</em>.—Thiamine concentrations in representative Great Lakes prey fish, including alewives <em>Alosa pseudoharengus</em>, rainbow smelt <em>Osmerus mordax</em>, slimy sculpin <em>Cottus cognatus</em>, bloater chub <em>Coregonus hoyi</em>, and lake herring <em>Coregonus artedi</em>, and their major dietary items, including mysids <em>Mysis relicta</em>, amphipods <em>Diporeia hoyi</em>, and net macroplankton, were measured to assess their potential involvement in depressed thiamine concentrations in lake trout <em>Salvelinus namaycush </em>of the Great Lakes. Mean thiamine concentrations in all biota were greater than the recommended dietary intake of 3.3 nmol/g for prevention of effects on growth, although the adequacy of these concentrations for reproduction is not known. Mean thiamine concentrations decreased in the order alewives > bloater chub, herring > smelt and differed from the order of associated egg thiamine concentrations published for lake trout feeding on these species (herring > alewives, smelt). As a result, these data strongly implicate the high thiaminase content, rather than the low thiamine content, of alewives and smelt as being responsible for the low egg thiamine concentrations of Great Lakes lake trout stocks that feed heavily on these species. Variations in thiamine content among prey species did not appear to be related to levels in their diet, because thiamine concentrations in <em>Mysis</em>, <em>Diporeia</em>, and macroplankton showed little consistency between group or between lake variation. There was no lake to lake variation in mean thiamine concentrations of prey species, but considerable within species variation occurred that was unrelated to size.

Partitioning Potential Fish Yields from the Great Lakes

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S2) ◽  
pp. s417-s424 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Loftus ◽  
C. H. Olver ◽  
E. H. Brown ◽  
P. J. Colby ◽  
W. L. Hartman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Yield Data ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Commercial Yield ◽  
Fish Yields

We proposed and implemented procedures for partitioning future fish yields from the Great Lakes into taxonomic components. These projections are intended as guidelines for Great Lakes resource managers and scientists. Attainment of projected yields depends on restoration of stable fish communities containing some large piscivores that will use prey efficiently, continuation of control of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), and restoration of high-quality fish habitat. Because Great Lakes fish communities were harmonic before their collapse, we used their historic yield properties as part of the basis for projecting potential yields of rehabilitated communities. This use is qualified, however, because of possible inaccuracies in the wholly commercial yield data, the presence now of greatly expanded sport fisheries that affect yield composition and magnitude, and some possibly irreversible changes since the 1950s in the various fish communities themselves. We predict that total yields from Lakes Superior, Huron, and Ontario will be increased through rehabilitation, while those from Lakes Michigan and Erie will decline. Salmonines and coregonines will dominate future yields from the upper lakes. The Lake Erie fishery will continue to yield mostly rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), but the relative importance of percids, especially of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum), will increase. In Lake Ontario, yields of salmonines will be increased. Managers will have to apply the most rigorous management strictures to major predator species.

Evaluating the effect of pelagic zooplankton community composition and density on larval walleye (Sander vitreus) growth with a bioenergetic-based foraging model

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 1039-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin N. McDonnell ◽  
Brian M. Roth
Keyword(s):  
Zooplankton Community ◽  
Sander Vitreus ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Community Influences ◽  
Prey Preferences ◽  
Class Strength ◽  
Consumption Rates ◽  
Zooplankton Communities

We developed a bioenergetic-based foraging model to evaluate how the composition of the pelagic zooplankton community influences the growth of zooplanktivorous larval walleye (Sander vitreus). Our model incorporates field observations of pelagic zooplankton composition and density as well as size-specific prey preferences of larval walleye to simulate both foraging and consumption rates. The model was evaluated in four lakes in northern Wisconsin: two with invasive populations of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and two without populations of rainbow smelt. Invasive rainbow smelt are known to alter the composition of pelagic zooplankton communities as well as cause declines in walleye recruitment, thus providing a unique opportunity to evaluate our model. The results suggest that larval walleye growth is slowed in systems that lack high densities of large-bodied Daphnia. Such conditions may create an energetic bottleneck for larval walleye. This approach could easily be applied to other species that are also affected by rainbow smelt or more generally where success of larval foraging is suspected to have a large influence on year-class strength.

Growth rate and condition of walleye (Sander vitreus), sauger (Sander canadensis), and dwarf walleye in a large Canadian lake

2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (7) ◽  
pp. 739-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.T. Sheppard ◽  
B.J. Hann ◽  
G.K. Davoren
Keyword(s):  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Sander Vitreus ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Bythotrephes Longimanus ◽  
The South ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Lake Winnipeg ◽  
South Basin ◽  
The North ◽  
North And South

The second largest inland walleye (Sander vitreus (Mitchill, 1818)) and sauger (Sander canadensis (Griffith and Smith, 1834)) fishery in Canada is found in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. To manage the fishery for a sustainable future, the growth and condition of these fish must be understood. Objectives were to (1) examine baseline growth and condition of walleye and sauger in Lake Winnipeg, (2) evaluate variation between the North and South basins, and (3) contribute observational findings on the distribution of dwarf walleye. Gill nets were set to catch walleye, sauger, and dwarf walleye throughout both basins at various locations and in all seasons during 2010 and 2011. North Basin walleye and sauger had higher growth rates and condition relative to the South Basin. This may be due to differential exploitation rates or diets such as the consumption of invasive rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax (Mitchell, 1814)) in the North Basin and not in the South Basin. Dwarf walleye were observed more frequently in the South Basin than in the North Basin. Overall, this study provides important baseline data on the growth and condition of walleye and sauger populations prior to invasion of the spiny waterflea (Bythotrephes longimanus Leydig, 1860) and zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771)).

Prey Fish Dynamics and Salmonine Predator Growth in Lake Ontario, 1978–84

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S2) ◽  
pp. s390-s403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert O'Gorman ◽  
Roger A. Bergstedt ◽  
Thomas H. Eckert
Keyword(s):  
Brown Trout ◽  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Causal Relation ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
First Year ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Poor Growth ◽  
Young Of The Year

The size of hatchery-reared brown trout (Salmo trutta) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), 1 yr after release in Lake Ontario, declined when the stocking of salmonines was increased between 1978 and 1984. The principal prey species, alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), failed to show the expected, predator-induced downturn in abundance. Instead, rainbow smelt remained moderately abundant and alewives very abundant. During this period, alewife year-classes were small, survival of yearling alewives was poor, growth of young-of-the-year of both alewives and rainbow smelt was slow (growth of most older alewives ceased), and rainbow smelt numbers gradually increased (the much larger alewife population presumably buffered older rainbow smelt from predation by large piscivores). When adult alewife numbers were halved by a winter die-off, the subsequent year-class of alewives was large and growth of brown trout during their first year in the lake increased. This suggested a causal relation between abundance of young alewives and brown trout growth. In the first year coho salmon were at liberty, their growth was related to abundance of young-of-the-year alewives; in their second year it was related to the abundance of yearling alewives and the condition of adult alewives. We hypothesize that abundant adult alewives suppressed production of young-of-the-year fish (necessary prey for salmonines during their first year in the lake) through competition for limited zooplankton production, and thus impeded the transfer of energy from the lowest trophic level to young salmonine predators.

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