Changes in the Fish Species Composition of the Great Lakes

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 827-854 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Christie
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Exotic Species ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Fish Species Composition

This paper is an interpretive review of the "case histories" which documented the changes in each of the Laurentian Great Lakes for the 1971 symposium on Salmonid Communities in Oligotrophic Lakes (SCOL). It suggests that lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior passed through a parallel series of stock changes after the invasions of those lakes by the sea lamprey. First, the lake trout and burbot stocks collapsed, and then with the relaxation of predation pressure rainbow smelt, deepwater cisco, and alewife stocks increased. Lake herring stocks collapsed in apparent response to the smelt increase. Whitefish were affected by sea lamprey but recovery after the control of the lamprey in lakes Michigan and Superior suggested that the exotic species had little influence. Lake Ontario differed from the other lakes in that it was inhabited by both sea lamprey and alewife before the turn of the century, and provided the reservoir from which these species expanded to colonize the upper lakes. Alewife apparently equilibrated early, but the evidence was that more recent perturbations allowed the sea lamprey to become a significant factor in the loss of the piscivores of Lake Ontario. Subsequent proliferation of ciscoes and smelt, and collapse of the herring, followed a sequence similar to that of the upper lakes. Lake Erie seemed to be similarly affected by loss of predator stocks, but its predominantly eutrophic character made the situation more complex. Overfishing was indicted in many early stock collapses, in the early invasion of the smelt in lakes Huron and Michigan and in the recent cisco declines of lakes Ontario and Huron. Eutrophication and more direct pollution stresses had mainly inshore impacts, but the similarity in the species sequencing in the oligotrophic Great Lakes suggested that although these factors may have supplemented the other effects, their influence before about 1950 was less than that of overfishing and the invasion of exotic species. Control of sea lamprey, overfishing, and eutrophication seemed attainable in the Great Lakes, but the only defense against further invasions by pest species appeared to be maintenance of sufficiently dense piscivore stocks to assure their suppression. Determining the levels of harvest appropriate to this provision will require intensified research.

Classification of Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) Attack Marks on Great Lakes Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush)

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 1989-2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Everett Louis King Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Attachment Site ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Oral Disc ◽  
Field Assessment ◽  
Sea Lampreys

Criteria for the classification of marks inflicted by sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) into nine categories were developed from laboratory studies in an attempt to refine the classification system used in field assessment work. These criteria were based on characteristics of the attachment site that could be identified under field conditions by unaided visual means and by touching the attachment site. Healing of these marks was somewhat variable and was influenced by the size of lamprey, duration of attachment, severity of the wound at lamprey detachment, season and water temperature, and by other less obvious factors. Even under laboratory conditions staging of some wounds was difficult, especially at low water temperatures. If these criteria are to be used effectively and with precision in the field, close examination of individual fish may be required. If the feeding and density of specific year-classes of sea lampreys are to be accurately assessed on an annual basis, close attention to the wound size (as it reflects the size of the lamprey's oral disc) and character of wounds on fish will be required as well as consideration of the season of the year in which they are observed.Key words: sea lamprey, attack marks, lake trout, Great Lakes

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.

Parasitic Phase of the Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in Lake Ontario

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 2021-2038 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Christie ◽  
D. P. Kolenosky
Keyword(s):  
Lake Trout ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Error Component ◽  
Species Preference ◽  
Fish Weight ◽  
History Of ◽  
Parasitic Phase ◽  
Parasitic Generation

Sea lamprey produced in other areas of Lake Ontario appeared to be responsible for significant levels of predation on target species of the eastern outlet basin. The life history of the lamprey is simple with only one parasitic generation present in the lake during the feeding period. Wound frequencies on gillnetted whitefish were influenced by season, fish size, gillnet set duration, and a large random error component which suggested a contagious distribution. Scar frequencies were influenced by fish age and indicated improved survival of whitefish when fish weight exceeded lamprey weight by 43 times. Lamprey impact on the whitefish stocks would probably have been more important at lower fishing intensities. The lamprey may have been prey limited, and size and species preference were probably such that lake trout and burbot were not buffered against sea lamprey by white suckers or whitefish. The analysis favored the view that lamprey were innocuous in 19th century Lake Ontario by reason of prey size and density, but climatic and other environmental effects could also have been important.Key words: sea lamprey, lake whitefish, Lake Ontario

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.

Observations on the opisthonephric kidney of the sea lamprey of the Great Lakes, Petromyzon marinus L., at various stages during the life cycle

1970 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1313-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Youson
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Amorphous Material ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Kidney Tissue ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
The Other ◽  
Larval Life ◽  
Adult Kidney

The kidneys at all stages consist of renal corpuscles, tubules, and an archinephric duct. The kidney of the ammocoete does not contribute to the formation of the adult kidney for at transformation a new kidney is formed. Degeneration of kidney tissue occurs at four stages: in the anterior regions throughout larval life; in the entire ammocoete kidney at transformation; in the anterior regions throughout adult life; in the entire kidney during the spawning migration. Large quantities of amorphous material appear in the interstitium during anterior degeneration of the adult. The other stages involve necrosis followed by the invasion of phagocytes.

Sea lamprey mark type, marking rate, and parasite–host relationships for lake trout and other species in Lake Ontario

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 266-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Lantry ◽  
Jean Adams ◽  
Gavin Christie ◽  
Teodore Schaner ◽  
James Bowlby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Trout ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Host Relationships

Dynamics of salmonine diets and foraging in Lake Ontario, 1983-1993: a test of a bioenergetic model prediction

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S Rand ◽  
Donald J Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Lake Trout ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Bioenergetic Model ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Mean Size ◽  
Diet Survey

We tested the hypotheses that (1) reductions in individual size and energy density of adult alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) in Lake Ontario over the past decade have caused reductions in mean size of consumed alewife and compensatory increases in frequency of feeding by salmonines and (2) perceived recent reductions in the alewife and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) prey base in recent years have resulted in shifts in diets of salmonines to less preferred prey items. Data from a diet survey conducted on sport-caught salmonines during 1983-1988 and 1993 indicated significant reductions in the mean size of consumed alewife across all predator species over time and an increased frequency of feeding among some predators (reflected by a decline in the proportion of empty stomachs observed). We found evidence of increased ration levels in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and an increase in the number of adult alewife in stomachs of all predator species that was accurately predicted by an earlier bioenergetic model analysis. We found evidence of a shift in diet across years away from rainbow smelt and other fishes to adult alewife. Results point toward possible sources of bioenergetic stress on salmonines in Lake Ontario.

Responses of Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) to Harvesting, Stocking, and Lamprey Reduction

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 2133-2145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl J. Walters ◽  
Greg Steer ◽  
George Spangler
Keyword(s):  
Simple Model ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Population Regulation ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Normal Population ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Density Dependent

Sustained yields, declines, and recovery of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) can be explained by a simple model that hypothesizes normal population regulation through density dependent body growth, coupled with depensatory lamprey mortality. The model indicates that either lamprey or fishing alone could have caused the Lake Superior decline, though they apparently operated in concert. The presence of depensatory lamprey mortality leads to a "cliff edge" in the system's dynamics, such that catastrophic changes may be repeated in the future. It is not unlikely that Lake Superior is on the verge of a second collapse. Options for dealing with potential disasters include conservative harvesting policies, development of more sensitive monitoring indicators, and modified stocking policies that may speed the coevolution of a viable lamprey/trout association.Key words: lake trout, sea lamprey, simulation, Great Lakes, policy analysis

Prey fish exploitation, salmonine production, and pelagic food web efficiency in Lake Ontario

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 318-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S Rand ◽  
Donald J Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Prey Fish ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Time Model

Estimates of production and predation rates from bioenergetic models of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) suggest a long-term decline in their gross conversion efficiency (gross production/prey consumption) and the gross production to biomass ratio in Lake Ontario during 1978-1994. The former pattern was caused primarily by a declining trend in adult alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) energy density during 1978-1985; the latter pattern resulted from reductions in growth rates (coho salmon) and a buildup of the older age-classes in the population (lake trout) over time. Model results suggest that over 100 and 25% of the annual production of adult alewife and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), respectively, was consumed by salmonines during 1990 in Lake Ontario; hence, we claim that recent observations of reduced salmonine growth in Lake Ontario may be a result of prey limitation. Energy transfer from primary production to salmonines appeared to be more efficient in Lake Ontario than in Lake Michigan, probably due to higher stocking levels per unit area and higher densities of preferred prey fish in Lake Ontario. Through separate analyses, we arrived at conflicting conclusions concerning the sustainability of the food web configuration in Lake Ontario during 1990.

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