The Invasion of the Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and its effect on the Habitat Partitioning of Benthic Fishes in French Creek.
Open Access
- Author:
- Wisor, Joshua Michael
- Graduate Program:
- Wildlife and Fisheries Science
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- November 16, 2018
- Committee Members:
- Jay Richard Stauffer Jr., Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Elizabeth Weeks Boyer, Committee Member
Julian D Avery, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Fish
microhabitat
invasive species
Round Goby - Abstract:
- In 2014 the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were alerted to the capture of a Round Goby in Lake LeBeouf, a natural lake in Waterford, PA whose outflow drains directly into French Creek. This was the first time in Pennsylvania that the Round Goby had been observed outside of Lake Erie and its tributaries. This was alarming in large part because the Round Goby is an invasive fish and has become the most abundant benthic (bottom dwelling) fish in the Laurentian Great Lakes after being discovered in 1989. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the presence of Round Gobies on the microhabitat occurrences of native benthic fishes of French Creek. I hypothesized that I would be able to detect shifts in the microhabitat occurrences of native benthic fishes. I also discuss the historical and contemporary invasions of the Round Goby starting with the initial discovery of the Round Goby in the St. Clair River (Jude et al., 1992). I describe the status and delineation of the French Creek invasion, including the most likely method of cross-watershed introduction. Finally, I describe the importance of the French Creek watershed, and illustrate the existing biodiversity of benthic (bottom dwelling) fishes. To measure the effects of Round Goby presence on microhabitat occurrences of native fishes, I followed the methods established by Stauffer et al. (1996) and van Snik Gray and Stauffer (1999) to snorkel and observe the microhabitats of benthic fishes at sites where Round Gobies are present as well as sites where they are absent. Sites were characterized using random data points so that they could be grouped together for comparison. I compared the microhabitat preferences of species at positive and negative sites to see if the Round Goby caused a shift. Etheostoma zonale and Etheostoma blennioides showed significant shifts (p < 0.05) in their microhabitat occurrences at sites occupied by the Round Goby. These shifts were driven by observations of darters to inhabit slower and deeper water.