Round Goby

From Great Lakes Wiki

The Round Goby can be found in 4 of the 5 Great Lakes (Michigan, Huron, Superior, and Erie.) Although cousins of the Goby can be found in fresh and salt water around the world, they were first found in a Lake Superior bay in 1995. There appearance is attributed to ballast water from a trans-atlantic cargo ship. These bottom dwelling fish are very aggresive and can sense water flow which gives them the ability to feed in dark places.

Effects

Round Gobies have been found to affect the existing food chains in areas of the Great Lakes where it becomes an established population. It is a direct competitor with native bottom-dwellers like sculpins and darters, and will often eat the eggs and young of the lake trout, a species with already limited reproduction.
The Goby is a natural predator of Zebra Mussels, and a single goby can eat up to 78 mussels a day. Unfortunately, the Round Goby alone is not expected to have any noticeable effect on controlling Zebra Mussel populations.

Check out this Professor singing about the Round Goby

External Links

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