Differential movement patterns of Yellow Perch between Lake Michigan and drowned river mouth lakes

Session: Great Lakes Tributaries: Connecting Land and Lakes (6)

Taylor Senegal, Purdue University, [email protected]
Carl Ruetz, Grand Valley State University, [email protected]
David Janetski, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]
Gregory Chorak, Montana State University, [email protected]
Ryan Thum, Montana State University, [email protected]
David Clapp, Michigan DNR Fisheries Division, [email protected]
Gabriel Bowen, University of Utah, [email protected]
Tomas Hook, Purdue University, Dept. Forestry and Natural Resources, [email protected]

Abstract

Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) is economically and ecologically prominent in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Elucidation of their stock structure and habitat utilization is potentially important for facilitating sustainable management of perch fisheries and conservation of genetic and phenotypic diversity. In eastern Lake Michigan, Yellow Perch is found in both the nearshore region of Lake Michigan proper and in the littoral zone of drowned river mouth (DRM) lakes. Recent genetic analyses suggest complex stock structure between these habitats and the potential migration of Lake Michigan Yellow Perch into the profundal zone of DRM lakes. We employed stable isotope ratios to further our understanding of Yellow Perch habitat use. Yellow Perch were collected in summer and fall of 2015 from five DRM lakes and two nearshore sites in Lake Michigan. Carbon (?¹³C) and oxygen (?¹⁸O) isotope ratios of otolith cores were used to index natal origins, while soft tissue ?¹³C, nitrogen (?¹⁵N), ?¹⁸O, and hydrogen (?²H) isotope ratios reflected recent diet and habitat use. Stable isotope ratios of both otolith cores and soft tissue samples support the existence of resident populations of nearshore Lake Michigan and DRM lakes, as well as Lake Michigan migrants caught in DRM lakes.