Northern Madtom (Noturus stigmosus) use of artificial reefs in the St. Clair – Detroit River System

Session: Great Lakes Reefs: Research, Monitoring, Creation, and Maintenance (2)

Jennifer Johnson, [email protected]
Jason Fischer, University of Toledo, Dept. of Env. Science, [email protected]
Justin Chiotti, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, [email protected]
Andrew Briggs, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, [email protected]
James Boase, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, [email protected]
Edward Roseman, USGS-Great Lakes Science Center, [email protected]
Jan-Michael Hessenaur, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, [email protected]

Abstract

The Detroit and St. Clair Rivers historically supported a diverse fish community; however, these rivers have been greatly altered. Creation of navigation channels and other anthropogenic disturbances resulted in depressed native fish populations and loss of habitat.  In order to restore degraded habitats, artificial reefs have been constructed.  The Northern Madtom, a small, state endangered catfish in Michigan is one species potentially benefiting from the artificial reefs.  To determine the population status of this species and its use of constructed reefs, we sampled artificial reefs and nearby control sites in the Detroit and St. Clair rivers, between 2016 and 2018.  Minnow traps were deployed overnight at three reef and control sites in each river.  Nearly 2000 minnow traps were deployed using four different bait types to determine bait preference.  Significantly more Northern Madtom were collected with night crawlers than with other bait types.  A total of 172 Northern Madtom were caught, 141 of which were in the St. Clair River.  Northern Madtom were more abundant on reefs in the St. Clair River while Detroit River exhibited higher abundance at the control sites.  This work provides insight regarding sampling strategies targeting Northern Madtom and the species use of constructed reefs.