Grants
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Population
Dynamics of the Introduced Round Goby in Pennsylvania Waters of Lake
Erie
CRM Project 2001-EG.01 |
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| Abstract
Since its original discovery in the Great Lakes the round goby (Neogobius melanostromus) has spread rapidly and extensively throughout the Great Lakes Basin. Round gobies were first discovered in the Pennsylvania waters of Lake Erie in 1996 and since that time have increased exponentially. In this paper the study authors examined the population dynamics of the round gobies in the Pennsylvania waters of Lake Erie by examining the population densities, age, sex, and size structures. Male and female gobies had similar age weight relationships that did not differ from those reported elsewhere in the Great Lakes. Male gobies were found to live longer than females with the oldest goby captured being a six year old male. Von Bertalanffy growth relationships indicated that littoral males reached their asymptotic length faster than pelagic males and there was no detectable difference in the theoretical maximum length between pelagic and littoral males. Round goby abundance appeared to peak in 2002 when the average number of gobies per hectare trawled was over 2500. The large number of round gobies appears to have had negative effects on native pelagic fishes. Study AuthorsRenea
A. Ruffing, Pennsylvania State University Project Administration Erie County Conservation Distric |
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