Invasion of Lake Erie Offshore Sediments by Dreissena, and Its Ecological Implications

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2298-2304 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Dermott ◽  
M. Munawar

Large populations of the exotic rounded (noncarinate) shelled mussel of the genus Dreissena were found to exist on soft sediments collected throughout the central and eastern basins of Lake Erie during July and August 1992. Two different phenotypes were present on fine sediments (<150 μm) in the eastern basin. An elongated white morph was common on the profundal sediments beyond 40 m depth, while the "quagga" mussel was common on sand and sandy silt at depths between 10 and 30 m. Together with the carinated zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha, which is very abundant on hard substrates in the sublittoral region, at least 80% of Lake Erie's bottom sediments have been invaded by Dreissena. Only that region of the central basin (near Cleveland) which undergoes periodic summer anoxia was not inhabited by this genus.

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2305-2314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward L. Mills ◽  
Ron M. Dermott ◽  
Edward F. Roseman ◽  
Donna Dustin ◽  
Eric Mellina ◽  
...  

An invasive dreissenid mussel given the working name of "quagga" has a present (spring 1993) distribution in the Laurentian Great Lakes from the western basin of Lake Erie to Quebec City. In Lake Erie, quaggas were collected as early as 1989 and now are most common in the eastern basin. In Lakes Erie and Ontario, proportions of quaggas increased with depth and decreasing water temperature. In the eastern basin of Lake Erie, quaggas outnumbered zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) by 14 to 1 in deeper waters (>20 m). In Lake Ontario, quaggas were observed at depths as great as 130 m, and both quagga and zebra mussel were found to survive at depths (>50 m) where temperatures rarely exceed 5 °C. Quaggas were sparse or absent along inland waterways and lakes of New York State. Mean shell size of quagga mussel was larger than that of zebra mussel at sites in the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River. The largest quaggas (38 mm) were observed in the St. Lawrence River at Cape Vincent.


1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 220-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H Thorp ◽  
James E Alexander, Jr. ◽  
Bonny L Bukaveckas ◽  
Gary A Cobbs ◽  
Kurt L Bresko

To predict possible effects of global climatic change (via changes in ambient water temperatures and suspended sediments) on two exotic bivalves (zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, and quagga mussel, Dreissena bugensis), we evaluated survival and growth at three temperatures (ambient, ambient + 2°C, and ambient + 4°C) and two turbidities (ambient and twice ambient) in outdoor tanks for approximately 3 months during both warm and cool seasons. We compared responses of zebra and quagga mussels from southwestern Lake Erie and zebra mussel from the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. Experimental increases in temperature significantly enhanced growth rates in fall - early winter but not during summer - early fall. Elevated temperatures increased mortality in the warm season but not in the cool season. Zebra mussel survived better (especially the Ohio River population) than did quagga mussel at high temperatures. Inorganic turbidity had few detectable effects; relationships, where significant, varied with temperature and species. Based on these experiments and related laboratory studies, we predict that populations of Dreissena in the Ohio River and farther south will suffer overall if water temperatures increase. In contrast, more northern populations of Dreissena will probably benefit from predicted climatic change and may extend their range to higher latitudes and altitudes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 531-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Kevin B Reid ◽  
Thomas D Nudds

Abstract Fish stock–recruitment relationships (SRRs) may vary in response to ecosystem change, increasing uncertainty for fisheries management. We defined three periods between 1975 and 2015 over which Lake Erie, a Laurentian Great Lake, underwent significant ecosystem changes: before zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) establishment, after zebra mussel establishment and before re-eutrophication, and after re-eutrophication. To examine the extent to which SRRs of Lake Erie yellow perch (Perca flavescens) also varied over these periods, we compared the performance of Baseline (constant recruitment), Ricker (constant SRR), Periodic Ricker (different SRRs among three periods) and Random-walk Ricker (annually varying SRRs) models fitted to data for yellow perch stocks corresponding to three lake basins. Periodic and Random-walk Ricker models performed better for stocks in the western and eastern basins, but the Baseline model performed best in the central basin. Annual variation in the SRRs coincided with the timing of zebra mussel establishment and re-eutrophication in the shallower western basin, but not in the deeper eastern basin, where quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) established later and conditions are less eutrophic. These results underscore that temporally and spatially varying SRRs associated with ecosystem change should be taken into account in models of fish population dynamics.


1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Trevor Claxton ◽  
Elizabeth G Boulding

The veliger larvae of two introduced species of bivalves, the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) and the quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis), are difficult or impossible to tell apart morphologically. We have developed specific dreissenid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers from dreissenid bivalve DNA sequences, which amplify a region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene. Non-dreissenid mtDNA, as found in field-collected veliger samples, was not amplified by these new PCR primers. The DNA sequence of this region distinguishes zebra mussel from quagga mussel larvae. Restriction digests of this region using the enzyme ScrFI showed no intraspecies variation in restriction pattern. We used this technique to distinguish the species of veliger larvae collected in eastern Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and Lake Simcoe. In our limited study, no quagga mussel larvae were found in Lake Simcoe, suggesting that this mussel species has not yet spread to the Kawartha Lake system. No zebra mussel larvae were found in either Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. These preliminary results add to the growing evidence that the quagga mussel is replacing the zebra mussel in parts of the lower Great Lakes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 488-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham D. Raby ◽  
Christopher S. Vandergoot ◽  
Todd A. Hayden ◽  
Matthew D. Faust ◽  
Richard T. Kraus ◽  
...  

Thermoregulation is presumed to be a widespread determinant of behaviour in fishes, but has not often been investigated as a mechanism shaping long-distance migrations. We used acoustic telemetry and animal-borne thermal loggers to test the hypothesis that seasonal migration in adult walleye (Sander vitreus) in Lake Erie is size- and (or) sex-specific and related to behavioural thermoregulation. Female walleye migrated out of the warm, shallow western basin earlier than did males and were 1.8 times more likely to be detected on acoustic receivers in the deeper and cooler eastern basin. The few fish that remained in the western basin were restricted to a smaller range of higher temperatures (≥20 °C) than those that migrated to the central and eastern basins (∼16–21 °C). However, temperature records from walleye in the central basin were nearly indistinguishable from those in the eastern basin, suggesting thermal preferences alone could not explain migration to the eastern basin. As such, our effort to understand the mechanisms that cause migratory behaviours has generated mixed evidence on the role of temperature and that factors like foraging opportunities may have synergistic roles in the migration.


2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1208-1221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry A Vanderploeg ◽  
James R Liebig ◽  
Wayne W Carmichael ◽  
Megan A Agy ◽  
Thomas H Johengen ◽  
...  

Microcystis aeruginosa, a planktonic colonial cyanobacterium, was not abundant in the 2-year period before zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) establishment in Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron) but became abundant in three of five summers subsequent of mussel establishment. Using novel methods, we determined clearance, capture, and assimilation rates for zebra mussels feeding on natural and laboratory M. aeruginosa strains offered alone or in combination with other algae. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that zebra mussels promoted blooms of toxic M. aeruginosa in Saginaw Bay, western Lake Erie, and other lakes through selective rejection in pseudofeces. Mussels exhibited high feeding rates similar to those seen for a highly desirable food alga (Cryptomonas) with both large ( >53 µm) and small (<53 µm) colonies of a nontoxic and a toxic laboratory strain of M. aeruginosa known to cause blockage of feeding in zooplankton. In experiments with naturally occurring toxic M. aeruginosa from Saginaw Bay and Lake Erie and a toxic isolate from Lake Erie, mussels exhibited lowered or normal filtering rates with rejection of M. aeruginosa in pseudofeces. Selective rejection depended on "unpalatable" toxic strains of M. aeruginosa occurring as large colonies that could be rejected efficiently while small desirable algae were ingested.


1996 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bruce Conn ◽  
Anthony Ricciardi ◽  
Mohan N. Babapulle ◽  
Kristine A. Klein ◽  
David A. Rosen

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