Slimy sculpin and round goby spatial overlap in the Great Lakes following round goby invasion

Session: 08b. - Restoration of Native Fishes

Shea Volkel, Michigan State University, [email protected]
Kelly Robinson, Michigan State University, [email protected]
David Bunnell, USGS Great Lakes Science Center, [email protected]
Darryl Hondorp, U.S. Geological Survey-Great Lakes Science Center, [email protected]
Brian Weidel, U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, [email protected]
Edward Roseman, USGS-Great Lakes Science Center, [email protected]
Stephen Riley, U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Ctr., [email protected]

Abstract

Great Lakes benthic communities have undergone several ecosystem changes during the 1990s/2000s, including collapse of Diporeia and invasions of dreissenid mussels (zebra, Dreissena polymorpha; quagga, D. bugensis) and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Coincident with these changes, long-term trawl surveys indicate large declines in biomass and abundance for sculpins throughout these systems. Sculpins link offshore benthic and pelagic food webs and mediate deepwater predator-prey interactions in the Great Lakes. As part of a larger project assessing the effects of benthic community changes on sculpin, we evaluated spatiotemporal overlap between round goby and slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) in lakes Huron, Michigan, and Ontario. We predicted that more-aggressive round goby outcompete slimy sculpin for food/habitat resources, forcing slimy sculpin to shift deeper and spatially segregate from round goby, particularly between autumn and early spring when a portion of the round goby population overwinters offshore. We used long term USGS trawl data from lakes Huron, Michigan, and Ontario to analyze spatiotemporal overlap between round goby and slimy sculpin with the global index of collation (GIC), following round goby invasion. This research will offer insight into the effects of these ecosystem changes on native deepwater fishes and inform future research on Great Lakes deepwater ecosystems.

1. Keyword
invasive species

2. Keyword
spatial distribution

3. Keyword
round goby