See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267883780 Ichthyofauna of the Great Lakes Basin Conference Paper · September 2011 CITATIONS READS 0 26 5 authors, including: Brian M. Roth Nicholas Mandrak Michigan State University University of Toronto 33 PUBLICATIONS 389 CITATIONS 173 PUBLICATIONS 2,427 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Greg G Sass Thomas Hrabik Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources University of Minnesota Duluth 95 PUBLICATIONS 796 CITATIONS 68 PUBLICATIONS 1,510 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Ecological Grass Carp Risk Assessment for the Great Lakes Basin View project All content following this page was uploaded by Greg G Sass on 14 September 2016. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately. Fishes and Decapod Crustaceans of the Great Lakes Basin Brian M. Roth, Nicholas E. Mandrak, Th omas R. Hrabik, Greg G. Sass, and Jody Peters The primary goal of the first edition of this chapter (Coon 1994) was to provide an overview of the Laurentian Great Lakes fish community and its origins. For this edition, we have taken a slightly diff erent approach. Although we have updated the checklist of fishes in each of the Great Lakes and their watersheds, we also include a checklist of decapod crustaceans. Our decision to include decapods derives from the lack of such a list for the Great Lakes in the literature and the importance of decapods (in particular, crayfishes) for the ecology and biodiversity of streams and lakes in the Great Lakes region (Lodge et al. 1985, 2000; Perry et al. 1997). Th is most recent checklist of fish species in the Great Lakes follows similar eff orts by Christie (1974), Bailey and Smith (1981), Underhill (1986), Coon (1994), and Cudmore-Vokey and Crossman (2000). Periodic updates are necessary to catalog changes in species composition and distribution within the Great Lakes watershed. We have made a substantial eff ort to verify presence and have included records of new introductions and their outcome. Sources include the primary literature, agency reports, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and Department of Natural Resources agents in various states. We place particular emphasis on the coregonines of Lake Superior. Th is group of fishes is beset with controversy, including discussions of the legitimacy of their current taxonomy. We also discuss the impor- tance of coregonines to the commercial fishery of Lake Superior and their current role in the ecosystem. Th e recent origins of the Great Lakes and their biotic community define the system as dynamic. We briefly review the zoogeographic origins of the fish and decapod communities and use these origins to focus on the current communities. Lastly, we discuss future prospects for the Great Lakes fish community and how current and emerging stressors on the Great Lakes could influence the fish and decapod communities. Definitions of the Great Lakes and Their Boundaries Th is chapter focuses on the fishes and decapods of the five Laurentian Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) and their watersheds. We follow the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) definitions for watershed boundaries. The Lake Superior watershed is bounded upstream by the Lake 105 106 Brian M. Roth et al. Nipigon drainage to the eastern end of Ogoki Lake. Lake Superior is bounded downstream by the Soo Locks on the St. Marys River. Th e Soo Locks and the Straits of Mackinac from Lake Michigan form the upstream termini of Lake Huron, whose downstream terminus is the origin of the St. Clair River. Lake Michigan’s downstream termini are the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (Lake Michigan) northeast of the Des Plaines/ Kankakee River confluence near Romeoville, Illinois, andthe Mackinac Straits leading to Lake Huron. Th e Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC), completed in 1900, was used to export wastewater from Chicago and to breach the watershed divide between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River. Th e “boundary” between the two basins is now better defined by the system of electrical barriers at the southern end of the CSSC, rather than any geological division. Lake Erie includes the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River. Th e division between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario is Niagara Falls. Most of the Welland Canal, which connects Lakes Erie and Ontario, is considered part of Lake Ontario. Th e downstream terminus of Lake Ontario includes the St. Lawrence River east to Cornwall, Ontario. Although Lakes Ontario and Huron are connected by the Trent-Severn Waterway, the GLFC considers the Lake Ontario watershed to begin immediately to the east of Lake Simcoe with waters to the northwest, including Lake Simcoe, belonging to the Lake Huron watershed. Zoogeographic Origins of Great Lakes Fish and Decapod Communities Th e fishes and decapods present in the Great Lakes and their drainages represent communities organized within the last ten thousand years or so. Th e Great Lakes themselves were formed during the retreat of the Wisconsinan glacial period ca. 14,000–9,000 years before present (BP), with the faunal communities originating from populations that survived the Wisconsinan glacial period in refugia to the northwest (Beringia), south (Mississippi), southwest (Missouri), and east (Atlantic Coast; Bailey and Smith 1981; Mandrak and Crossman 1992; Underhill 1986). In particular, much of the Great Lakes fish community is thought to have originated in the Mississippi refugium and dispersed through various outlets of the proglacial Michigan and Erie basins that overflowed into the Mississippi basin. Bailey and Smith (1981) indicated that 134 of the 174 (77 percent) fish species extant in the Great Lakes at the time of their study derived from the Mississippi refugium. Fewer fish species colonized the Great Lakes from the east through the Atlantic Coastal refugium. At least eleven fish species currently in the Great Lakes likely derived from populations that existed only in the Atlantic Coastal refugium and colonized the Great Lakes through glacial outlets in the present-day St. Lawrence, Hudson, and Susquehanna River watersheds (Bailey and Smith 1981; Mandrak and Crossman 1992; Underhill 1986). As many as twenty-six other fish species likely originated from populations in both the Atlantic Coastal and Mississippi refugia (Bailey and Smith 1981; Mandrak and Crossman 1992; Underhill 1986). Populations of several cold-water fish species are hypothesized to originate in Bering Sea drainages. Broad areas of Beringia were unglaciated and covered by fresh waters, which provided a refugium for several coldwater fish species, such as Lake Trout (common and scientific names according to Nelson et al. [2004]; scientific names are provided in table 1), Arctic Grayling, Northern Pike, and many coregonines, among others (Bailey and Smith 1981; Underhill 1986; Wilson and Hebert 1996, 1998). Dispersal occurred through a series of glacial lakes that extended from Beringia southeastward to the Great Lakes (Bailey and Smith 1981; Crossman and McAllister 1986; Underhill 1986). FISHES AND DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS 107 TABLE 1. Fish Species in the Great Lakes and Their Status SPECIES COMMON NAME SUPERIOR MICHIGAN HURON ERIE ONTARIO Ichthyomyzon castaneus Chestnut Lamprey N N N A A Ichthyomyzon fossor Northern Brook Lamprey N N N N A Ichthyomyzon unicuspis Silver Lamprey N N N N N Lampetra appendix American Brook Lamprey N N N N N Petromyzon marinus Sea Lamprey I I I I I Acipenser fulvescens Lake Sturgeon N N N N N Polyodon spathula Paddlefi sh ep ep ep ep A Lepisosteus oculatus Spotted Gar A N A N R Lepisosteus osseus Longnose Gar N N N N N Lepisosteus platostomus Shortnose Gar A N A A A Lepisosteus platyrhincus Florida Gar A A A A IF Amia calva Bowfi n A N N N N Hiodon tergisus Mooneye A N N N N Osteoglossum bicirrhosum Arawana A IF A A A Anguilla rostrata American Eel R R R R R Alosa aestivalis Blueback Herring A A A A I Alosa chrysochloris Skipjack Herring A R A R A Alosa pseudoharengus Alewife I I I I P Alosa sapidissima American Shad A IF IF IF IF Dorosoma cepedianum Gizzard Shad A N N N N Campostoma anomalum Central Stoneroller A N N N N Campostoma oligolepsis Largescale Stoneroller A N A A A Carassius auratus Goldfi sh I I I I I Clinostomus elongatus Redside Dace I N N N N Couesius plumbeus Lake Chub N N N A N Ctenopharyngodon idella Grass Carp A I R R R Cyprinella analostanus Satinfi n Shiner A A A A N Cyprinella lutrensis Red Shiner A I A A A Cyprinella spiloptera Spotfi n Shiner A N N N N Cyprinella whipplei Steelcolor Shiner A N A A A Cyprinus carpio Common Carp I I I I I Erimystax x-punctatus Gravel Chub A A A ep A Exoglossum laurae Tonguetied Minnow A A A A N Exoglossum maxilingua Cutlip Minnow A A A A N Hybognathus hankinsoni Brassy Minnow N N N N N Hybognathus regius Eastern Silvery Minnow A A A A N Hybopsis amblops Bigeye Chub A A A N A Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Silver Carp A A A A A Hypophthalmichthys nobilis Bighead Carp A IF A IF A 108 Brian M. Roth et al. SPECIES COMMON NAME SUPERIOR MICHIGAN HURON ERIE ONTARIO Luxilus chrysocephalus Striped Shiner A N N N N Luxilus cornutus Common Shiner N N N N N Lythrurus umbratilis Redfi n Shiner A N N N N Macrhybopsis storeriana Silver Chub A A A N A Margariscus margarita