Secondary invasion of the round goby into high diversity Great Lakes tributaries and species at risk hotspots: potential new concerns for endangered freshwater species

Abstract

The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) first invaded North America in 1990 when it was discovered in the St. Clair River. Despite more than 15 years of potential invasion, many Great Lakes' lotic systems remained uninvaded. Recently, we captured the round goby from several Great Lakes tributaries known as species-at-risk hotspots. With a combination of field sampling of round gobies and literature review of the impact of round gobies on native taxa, we assess the potential impacts of the secondary invasion to native species using three mechanisms: competition; predation; and indirect impacts from the loss of obligate mussel hosts. We estimate that 89% (17/19) of benthic fishes and 17% (6/36) of mussels that occur in these systems are either known or suspected to be impacted by the secondary invasion of round goby. In particular, we note that the distribution of potential impacts of round goby invasion was largely associated with species with a conservation designation, including seven endangered species (1 fish, 6 mussels). As these recent captures of round goby represent novel occurrences in high diversity watersheds, understanding the potential impacts of secondary invasion to native biota is fundamental to prevent species declines and to allow early mitigation.

Interactions between invasive round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) and fantail darters (Etheostoma flabellare) in a tributary of the St. Lawrence River, New York, USA

“…While many lower Great Lakes assemblages are relatively diverse (Poos et al 2009), the section of Mullet Creek that we sampled (200 m upstream of a drowned river mouth) supported a low-diversity assemblage. Fish species richness and habitat diversity were greater historically (Greeley and Greene 1935) and upstream of our sample site (McKenna et al 2012); richness may have been greater in the study area before round goby invasion.…”

“…Cottus spp.) are most affected by competition with round gobies (French and Jude 2001;Lauer et al 2004;Poos et al 2009), which are aggressive space competitors (Balshine et al 2005) that can reach larger body size than similar species (Charlebois et al 2001). In some systems, Johnny darter and rainbow darter (E. caeruleum) occur only in streams without gobies (Krakowiak and Pennuto 2008), and Johnny and channel darters have been eliminated from Lake Erie near-shore fish communities (Reid and Mandrak 2008).…”

“…We report on some of the earliest observations of round goby invading lotic habitats of St. Lawrence River tributaries also occupied by darters. One would predict that round gobies and fantail darters would utilize similar habitats and food sources within these tributaries (Poos et al 2009). Fantail darters (E. flabellare) were used in this study due to their high abundance in our sample area.…”

Untitled

“…Relationships between length and weight in the round goby in both native and introduced portions of its range has shown differences in maturity, fecundity, longevity, and mean generation time (Thompson and Simon, 2015). Limited information is available on population differences between tributary and harbor habitats and less is available from Great Lakes Areas of Concern (Poos et al, 2009). The second wave of invasion into tributary streams of the Laurentian Great Lakes has cause for concern based on life history strategies used by the round goby and the potential dispersal into the Mississippi River basin.…”

First report on the importance of alien gobiids in the diet of native piscivorous fishes in the lower Vistula River (Poland)

“…In recent decades, spectacular expansion of Ponto-Caspian fish from the Gobiidae family has been noted in Laurentian Great Lakes in North America (Jude et al 1992;Charlebois, Corkum 2001;Poos et al 2009), in the Baltic Sea (Skóra, Stolarski 1993;Sapota 2004;Sapota, Skóra 2005) and in European rivers both in the Baltic (Copp et al 2005) and the North Sea basins (van Beek 2006). In the lower Vistula River in Poland, which is a part of the central inland corridor used by Ponto-Caspian species to migrate in Europe (Bij de Vaate et al 2002), two gobiids (the racer goby Neogobius gymnotrachelus and the monkey goby Neogobius fluviatilis) were recorded for the first time in the years (Kostrzewa, Grabowski 2001, 2002.…”