USGS Science⌕ Search
Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70222513

Use of an artificial stream to monitor avoidance behavior of larval sea lamprey in response to TFM and niclosamide

Nicholas Schloesser·Michael A. Boogaard·Todd Johnson·Courtney A. Kirkeeng·Justin R. Schueller·Richard A. Erickson
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The lampricide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) has been used in liquid form to control larval sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) in Great Lakes tributaries since the late 1950s. In the 1980s a dissolvable TFM bar was developed as a supplemental tool for application to small tributaries as a deterrent to larvae seeking water not activated with TFM. The size, mass, and number of bars needed in some streams, as well as the location of the streams, limit the utility of a TFM bar. The development and use of an alternative niclosamide bar has the potential to use fewer bars to achieve similar results. However, the use of a niclosamide bar is dependent upon its larval deterrent capability compared to the TFM bar. In this study, we developed a laboratory-scale, simulated stream fluvarium with several avoidance areas including two side channels and a seep. The objective was to evaluate the deterrent capabilities of TFM and niclosamide. We found similar behavioral responses, with TFM and niclosamide having similar capabilities to prevent sea lamprey from seeking refuge in side channels and seep avoidance areas. TFM-treated side channels and seep increased sea lamprey occupancy in the main channel 2.56 times more than the untreated-controls (95% CI 1.63–4.14) whereas niclosamide-treated side channels and seep increased sea lamprey occupancy of the main channel 2.68 times more than the untreated-controls (95% CI 1.72–4.32). These responses indicate a niclosamide bar would effectively prevent sea lamprey escapement into freshwater during a lampricide treatment at concentrations unlikely to harm aquatic organisms.

Explore related subjects

Journal of Great Lakes ResearchArticle

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Nicholas Schloesser, Michael A. Boogaard, Todd Johnson, Courtney A. Kirkeeng, Justin R. Schueller, Richard A. Erickson. 2021. Use of an artificial stream to monitor avoidance behavior of larval sea lamprey in response to TFM and niclosamide. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2021.04.015

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

Thermal habitat use of lake trout in Lake Erie

Understanding the thermal habitat use of fish populations is vital for effective rehabilitation or management, particularly in the face of climate change, given limited thermal tolerances of some species. In Lake Erie, lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) rehabilitation efforts by means of stocking have been ongoing for four decades. However, high water temperatures and lengthening periods of stratification may be hindering reestablishment efforts by contributing to unfavorable conditions for spawning and natural recruitment. We used acoustic telemetry to quantify weekly temperature occupancy of adult lake trout in Lake Erie and evaluated whether temperature occupancy differed relative to fish total length and sex. We found that lake trout occupied water temperatures similar to temperatures occupied by other Great Lakes lake trout populations during summer stratification. During fall, lake trout in Lake Erie occupied warmer temperatures than Lake Huron populations but similar temperatures to Lake Ontario populations. Occupied temperatures decreased with increasing body size during a 7-week period of mid- to late-summer stratification, but not during early summer or fall. Male and female lake trout did not differ in weekly temperature occupancy during any season. These findings reveal similarities with successfully reproducing populations, which suggest that adult temperature occupancy is unlikely to be a major impediment to natural recruitment in Lake Erie.

Lake Erie↗
USGS2026

Bayesian hierarchical model of lake whitefish cohort strength from sparse trawl data

Recruitment indices for rare or intermittently recruiting fishes are needed to compare year classes and evaluate recruitment drivers, but sparse trawl data with many zero-catch observations complicate estimation. We used fall bottom trawl data from New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio surveys in Lake Erie's central and eastern basins to estimate annual relative cohort strength of age-0 lake whitefish ( Coregonus clupeaformis ) from 1992 to 2021 and evaluate whether a Bernoulli-Bernoulli presence-absence model retained enough information for an annual relative cohort strength index compared with a Binomial-Poisson count model. We fixed detection probability at 0.31 in the primary analysis and refit both models using alternative fixed values in sensitivity analyses. Among 2879 tows, 173 were positive and 368 fish were collected, with positive catches ranging from 1 to 20 fish. Annual catch per unit area and both models recovered a similar recruitment pattern, with variable recruitment from 1992 to 2005, little to no recruitment from 2006 to 2014, and renewed recruitment in most years from 2015 to 2021. Cohort rank order was stable across fixed detection values (Spearman r s = 0.996 to 1.000), and annual median estimates maintained high agreement with the primary analysis (Pearson r = 0.966 to 1.000). However, Bernoulli-Bernoulli estimates were not one-to-one with Binomial-Poisson estimates, and relative magnitude depended on assumed detection probability. These results indicate that the Bernoulli-Bernoulli simplification is adequate for recovering cohort strength patterns, but the Binomial-Poisson model is more appropriate for distinguishing relative cohort strength among years.

New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania↗
USGS2026

Re-examining the growing degree day minimum for grass carp spawning initiation in Lake Erie: Have we missed the mark?

Understanding the timing of life history processes of invasive fish species, such as adult aggregations during spawning, allows natural resource managers to optimize targeted population control efforts. Temperature-based estimates of the timing of spawning initiation for grass carp ( Ctenopharyngodon idella ) exist from its native range, but have not previously been developed for grass carp reproduction in its invaded range in the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. We accounted for differences among methods across studies and calculated cumulative growing degree days (GDD) for the dates of grass carp egg capture in Lake Erie tributaries (Sandusky, Maumee, and Huron rivers) during 2015–2024 and compared these values to the existing GDD base 15°C requirement estimate from the native range (633 GDD–15°C). The earliest egg detection in Lake Erie (Sandusky River) was 19 GDD–15°C or 361 GDD–5°C (latest egg detection was 2285 GDD–5°C from the Sandusky River), indicating that spawning was initiated up to 25 days earlier than would be predicted by the native range GDD. Moreover, spawning in Lake Erie tributaries occurred earlier than predicted for 58% of spawning events examined based on the native range GDD. The GDD values for spawning initiation in Lake Erie tributaries can be used to refine the timing of control efforts targeting pre-spawn and spawning adult fish, inform the timing of egg sampling, and provide linkages to existing early life stage models to infer the length of the growing season available for age-0 fish to reassess tributary suitability.

Ohio↗