ResearchTopic: Invasive Species

Aquatic food web changes to invasive Flathead Catfish along a natural invasion gradient

Biological invasions have the potential to significantly alter the structure and function of aquatic communities. Invasive predatory fish species are known to restructure food webs – since predatory fishes have a dominant influence on community structure in freshwater systems. The Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris is a large piscivorous catfish that is invasive in many parts […]

Population and pollutant estimates for invasive snails in Presque Isle State Park

Invasive species can have direct and indirect negative impacts on native communities. Freshwater snails—because of their diet variety, association with water and sediment, rapid reproduction rates, and obscure life history—can significantly impact the communities they invade. Our preliminary work has shown that Presque Isle State Park (PISP), located along Lake Erie’s shores, is now home […]

Rusty Crayfish Fact Sheet

The rusty crayfish is an aggressive crayfish with a huge appetite. It has not only managed to outcompete native crayfish species but has also devastated aquatic ecosystems in several states including Pennsylvania. Species Description Adult rusty crayfish are typically 7.5-13 cm (3-5 in) long with large, robust claws that display black banded tips. Coloration is […]

Round Goby Fact Sheet

The round goby is a small, but aggressive bottom-dwelling fish that grows rapidly and reproduces several times in one spawning season. It is a huge threat to North American aquatic ecosystems because it is adaptable to a wide range of environmental conditions and will eat just about anything alive that will fit in its mouth. […]

Yellow-bellied Slider Fact Sheet

Species Description The yellow-bellied slider has a prominent patch of yellow on the side of the head, which is most evident in juveniles and females. Narrow, yellow stripes mark the neck, legs, and arms. The upper shell (called the carapace) is oval in shape, has slight serrations around the edges, and has olive to brownish-yellow […]

Northern Snakehead Fact Sheet

The northern snakehead has been nicknamed “frankenfish” and has starred in two science fiction movies. But what is fact and what is Hollywood fiction? The northern snakehead is a freshwater fish that created a media frenzy when a population was discovered in a Maryland pond. Fishery managers eventually used chemicals to eliminate that population; however, […]

Hydrilla Fact Sheet

Species Description Hydrilla is an aggressively growing perennial plant that roots itself to the bottom of lakes and other waterbodies at depths of up to 12 ft (3.7 m). Its long, branching stems reach up to the water’s surface, where it quickly spreads and takes over. Hydrilla leaves occur in whorls of 3-8, are typically […]

Status of Exotic Round Goby and Tubenose Goby in Pennsylvania

The purposes of this study was to report on the status of the Round Goby, Neogobius melanostomu, in the Lake Erie watershed of Pennsylvania, to determine if there was a shift in diet of the native fishes when Round Goby were present in selected Pennsylvania tributaries of Lake Erie, and to compare the diet of the Tubenose […]

Rusty Crayfish and Smallmouth Bass in the Susquehanna River: Who’s Eating Whom?

Two nonnative crayfish species, Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius rusticus) and the Allegheny Crayfish (Faxonius. obscurus), are currently found in the Susquehanna River. In 2015, we hand collected crayfish from among six sites spanning almost 115 river miles. Thirty stomachs were dissected from similarly sized individuals at each of the six sites; two of the sites had […]

Genomic Application for Mutational Analysis of Skin Tumor Formation in the Bioindicator Bottom Feeder Brown Bullhead Fish in Presque Isle Bay

Genome sequence comparison of tumor and non-tumor samples obtained from brown bullhead fish from Presque Isle State Park was undertaken to identify regions of DNA mutations in tumor samples. DNA primer sets were constructed to amplify and examine eight of these regions in greater detail, all of which successfully amplified the region targeted. Three genome […]

ResearchTopic: Invasive Species

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