Dietary specialization of two benthic fishes in the Lake Erie Basin: the native Common Logperch and the invasive Round Goby

Dietary specialization of two benthic fishes in the Lake Erie Basin: the native Common Logperch and the invasive Round Goby

Presenter(s)

Emerson Amy

Comments

9:00-10:15, Kennedy Union Ballroom

Description

The introduction of Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) to the benthic ecosystem in Lake Erie and its surrounding tributaries has already had significant effects on the native fishes in this system. To measure these effects I looked at diet specialization and diet overlap as potential sources of competition between Gobies and native fish. The Common Logperch (Percina caprodes) is a member of the benthic community in Lake Erie and its surrounding tributaries. Its similar size class, feeding morphology, diet, and range makes the Common Logperch a good model for determining the effects of invasive Round Gobies in the Lake Erie Basin. This research aims to identify the contemporary foraging mode of P. caprodes and N. melanostomus, determine if the foraging mode of the Common Logperch has changed since the Round Goby Invasion, and calculate proportional similarity (PS) between modern Logperch and Goby diets as a measure of diet overlap. Fish were caught from seining, or taken from Stone Laboratory’s teaching collection. They were dissected so stomach contents could be identified and benthic macroinvertebrate samples were collected to represent the resource base. Chironomids were found to be a preference in both diets in Lake Erie and the Portage River. Hydropsychids were common in both diets in the Portage River, while Common Logperch in this system also selected for multiple families of mayflies. Logperch diet has changed since Gobies arrived as the Small Square-Gilled Mayflies (Caenidae) has left the Portage River resource base and is thus absent from the diet. High diet overlap (PS= 0.81-0.93) was found between both species, but high resource abundance does not indicate competitive exclusion occurring.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Project Designation

Independent Research

Primary Advisor

Brian Alford, Ohio State University, F.T. Stone Laboratory

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Scholarship

Dietary specialization of two benthic fishes in the Lake Erie Basin: the native Common Logperch and the invasive Round Goby

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