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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Impacts of Goby in the Great Lakes



-Populations of native sculpin and logperch have exhibited a substantial decline in the Saint Clair River where the round gobies were first introduced.
-Round Goby eat darters, sculpins, logperch, the eggs and juveniles of trout and the eggs of lake sturgeon.
-Transfer of contaminates in the food cycle.
-Round gobies interfere with the actions of anglers.  For example, gobies eat the bait off hooks and anglers catch gobies instead of coveted sports fish.
-Round gobies interfere with habitat restoration projects in the Great Lakes and other regions.
-They behave aggressively toward other fish and drive native species from prime spawning areas.
-Round gobies tend to out compete native fishes for food partially due to an ability to feed in complete darkness and to the presence of a suctorial disk located on their pelvic fin which allows them to attach to rocks and remain fixed on the bottom in fast currents.

Some positive impacts include:
-Gobies eat zebra mussels, another Great Lakes invader.
-They also serve as a food source for larger predatory fishes and water snakes.
 

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