Wisconsin Fishes 2000: Status and Distribution   

by John Lyons, Philip A. Cochran, and Don Fago

Abstract  |  Table of Contents  |  Sample Text  |   The Authors  |  To Order

The first complete assessment of Wisconsin fishes since George C. Becker's landmark Fishes of Wisconsin, this book updates the current status and abundance of all fish species in Wisconsin (including non-native species). For newly discovered species since Becker, the authors provide in-depth descriptions, including distinguishing features and information on reproduction, growth, feeding, population dynamics, interactions with other species, and management issues.

Wisconsin Fishes 2000: Status and Distribution, John Lyons, Philip A. Cochran, Don Fago, 100 pages, 8 x 10 softcover, ISBN: 0-936287-06-3, 8 color plates, 8 distribution maps, index by common name, index by scientific name, $10.00.

Abstract

Since the original publication of George C. Becker's landmark Fishes of Wisconsin in 1983, many changes have occurred in the Wisconsin fish fauna. Currently, 147 native species are recognized, one more than in Becker (1983). Two additional native species, southern brook lamprey (Ichthyomyzon gagei) and channel shiner (Notropis wickliffi), have been found in the state, and one former native species, longjaw cisco (Coregonus alpenae), is now considered merely a distinctive form of shortjaw cisco (Coregonus zenithicus). Hybrid northern redbelly X finescale dace (Phoxinus eos X Phoxinus neogaeus) may represent an additional unisexual clonal species, but genetic analyses of Wisconsin populations are required for confirmation. Six native species -- ghost shiner (Notropis buchanani), ironcolor shiner (Notropis chalybaeus), creek chubsucker (Erimyzon oblongus), deepwater cisco (Coregonus johannae), blackfin cisco (Coregonus nigripinnis), and shortnose cisco (Coregonus reighardi) -- are extirpated from the state. Two species thought by Becker (1983) to be extirpated, skipjack herring (Alosa chrysochloris) and black redhorse (Moxostoma duquesnei), have been rediscovered but are rare. Three endangered species, striped shiner (Luxilus (formerly Notropis) chrysocephalus), pallid shiner (Notropis amnis), and slender madtom (Noturus exilis), have declined greatly in distribution and abundance and are now nearly extirpated. Fourteen non-native species are currently established in the state, with kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), white perch (Morone americana), ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus) and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) newly reported since Becker's (1983) book. At least 19 additional non-native species have been reported from state waters but are not currently established; 2 of these, red shiner (Cyprinella (formerly Notropis) lutrensis) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) had been tentatively considered by Becker (1983) to be established. The scientific names of 16 native and 2 non-native Wisconsin fishes have been changed, and several others may be changed in the future.

Table of Contents      (back to top)

Summary
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Overview of Changes in the Wisconsin Fish Fauna
Species Accounts
     Native Species
               Lampreys
               Sturgeons
               Paddlefishes
               Gars
               Bowfins
               Mooneyes
               Freshwater Eels
               Herrings
               Minnows
               Suckers
               Bullhead Catfishes
               Pikes
               Mudminnows
               Trouts
               Troutperches
               Pirate Perches
               Codfishes
               Killifishes
               Silversides
               Sticklebacks
               Sculpins
               Temperate Basses
               Sunfishes
               Perches
               Drums
     Established Non-Native Species
                Lampreys
                Herrings
                Minnows
                Smelts
                Trouts
                Sticklebacks
                Temperate Basses
                Perches
                Gobies
     Transient Non-Native Species
                Herrings  
                Minnows
                Characins
                Bullhead Catfishes
                Longwiskered Catfish
                Trouts
                Livebearers
                Temperate Basses
                Cichlids
References
Index to Species by Common Name
Index to Species by Scientific Name
About the Authors

Sample Text     (back to top)

Paddlefish Polyodon spathula: Threatened. Uncommon in the Mississippi River and the lower reaches of its largest tributaries, although there are small areas within the Wisconsin, Black, and Chippewa Rivers where paddlefish are locally common. Graham (1997) reported that paddlefish populations in Wisconsin were increasing, presumably based on an unpublished U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey of biologists and commercial fishermen. Lyons (1993) documented the disappearance of paddlefish from the Wisconsin River above the Prairie du Sac Dam, Sauk/Columbia Counties, and made the first crude population estimates for the large paddlefish concentration below the dam: 3600 to 4720 individuals greater than 5 kg in 1988 and 1989. Runstrom (1996) provided more accurate and precise population estimates of from 540 to 1714 individuals during 1993 and 1994. Zigler et al. (1999) documented diel movement and habitat use patterns of adult paddlefish in Pool 8 of the Mississippi River. Jennings and Wilson (1993) published the first evidence for successful spawning by paddlefish in Wisconsin waters based on the occurrence of yearling paddlefish in the lower Black River at Mississippi River Pool 8 in LaCrosse County. In 1997, federal government biologists captured single newly hatched larval paddlefish from the Chippewa River in Dunn County and in Buffalo/Pepin Counties, and from the Wisconsin River in Iowa County. Another larval paddlefish was collected from the Chippewa River at the Dunn County site in 1998 (Ann Runstrom, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Onalaska, WI, personal communication).

Speckled Chub Macrhybopsis aestivalis: Threatened. Uncommon in the Mississippi, lower Wisconsin, and Wolf Rivers. Abundance appears to be stable. Most speckled chub sites mapped by Becker (1983) also yielded speckled chubs when sampled in the 1980s or 1990s. In 1994 and 1995, several specimens were collected from the Wolf River (Fox River drainage), Shawano County (WDNR unpublished data, UWZM 11072), constituting the first record of this species from the Great Lakes basin. We believe that the Wolf River specimens represent a previously unknown native population rather than a recent introduction. The Wolf River has not been thoroughly sampled for nongame fishes and has extensive areas of shallow, shifting-sand bottom that are ideal habitat for the speckled chub. Moreover, the speckled chub, although widespread in the Mississippi and lower Wisconsin Rivers, is a rare, small, and difficult-to-catch species, and it seems highly unlikely that it would be transported by anglers to the Wolf River for use as bait. We hypothesize that the speckled chub entered the Great Lakes basin long before European settlement of Wisconsin through a natural but sporadic high-water connection between the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers that formerly existed at Portage, Columbia County (Becker 1983, Durbin 1997). Speckled chub occur in the Wisconsin River at Portage (Becker 1983, Fago 1992), and if they were able to move into the Fox, there would have been no natural barriers to prevent them from reaching the Wolf River. Alternatively, the speckled chub could have reached the Fox River more recently via the Portage Canal, which was built to connect the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers about 160 years ago.

Slimy Sculpin Cottus cognatus: Secure. Common in the Great Lakes, occasionally moving into the lower reaches of tributaries when water temperatures are cold. Inland, the slimy sculpin is found in a few cold streams that are scattered around the state but concentrated in southwestern Wisconsin and in Trout Lake, Vilas County, and Big Green Lake, Green Lake County. New inland records were documented by Lyons (1984) for Trout Lake (Chippewa River drainage); by Fago (1985b) for Kriwanek Creek, Manitowoc County (Twin River drainage, Lake Michigan basin; see also Kinziger 1998); and by Fago (1986) and Lyons (1990) for the Namekagon River system (St. Croix River drainage). Lyons (1990) summarized distribution and morphological variation of slimy sculpin in the north-central United States.

Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch: Secure. Common in the Great Lakes and many of their tributaries. Native to the Pacific slope of northwestern North America and northeastern Asia. In Wisconsin, Lake Michigan populations are supported completely by stocking; consistent successful natural reproduction in tributaries has not occurred. However, self-sustaining populations have become established in several Lake Superior tributaries, most notably in the Bois Brule River, Douglas County (DuBois and Pratt 1994), and Wittlesey Creek systems, Ashland and Bayfield Counties (WDNR unpublished data). As a result, coho salmon are no longer stocked in the Wisconsin waters of the Lake Superior basin (Peck et al. 1999).

Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus: Secure. Perhaps locally common in Superior Harbor of Lake Superior and Milwaukee Harbor and Sturgeon Bay of Lake Michigan. This species is native to the Black and Caspian Seas and adjacent waters in Europe and Asia, but it has also become established in Poland. It was first found in North America in 1990 in the St. Clair River, the outlet of Lake Huron. Presumably round gobies reached North America via the ballast water of ships from Europe or Asia, as has been proposed for ruffe and several invertebrate species in the Great Lakes. However, the Eurasian source for populations in the Great Lakes is unknown (Stepien and Dillon 1999). From the St. Clair River, round gobies spread rapidly around the Great Lakes and were first recorded from Lake Superior in 1995 in Duluth-Superior Harbor, where the species appears to have become established. In 1999, specimens were captured from Milwaukee Harbor and Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan. Round gobies have been common in harbor areas of southern Lake Michigan near the Illinois-Indiana border since 1993. See the photograph in figure 15 and the distribution map in Figure 16. Unless otherwise noted, information in this account is taken from Charlebois et al. (1997).

Description: The round goby is a bottom-dwelling fish with a relatively large rounded head, a subterminal mouth, large fan-like pectoral fins, no visible lateral line, and a mottled olive and brown color (becoming jet black in parental males) (figure 15). Round gobies look superficially like sculpins but can be easily distinguished by their pelvic fins, which are fused together to form a sucking disk. No other Wisconsin fish has this characteristic. The maximum size of round gobies in the Great Lakes can exceed 250 mm TL, but most adult specimens are 45-125 mm TL (MacInnis and Corkum 2000).

Distribution, Status, and Habitat: As of 1999, round gobies had been found in Wisconsin in Duluth-Superior Harbor, Milwaukee Harbor, and Sturgeon Bay (Edwards et al. 1998; Steingraeber 1999; Thompson, personal communication; Green Bay News-Chronicle, 6 August 1998; WDNR unpublished data). The abundance of round gobies at these sites is difficult to determine, but anecdotal reports from WDNR fisheries biologists and anglers indicate that they are locally common in shallow rocky areas near shore and that a wide range of sizes is present. We have collected several individuals by electroshocking rock riprap along the shoreline of Duluth-Superior Harbor (UWZM 11187). Abundance of round gobies in deeper waters is unknown. Trawling and trapping surveys in Duluth-Superior Harbor have captured few specimens (Edwards et al. 1998). However, these techniques are likely to underestimate goby numbers, and underwater observation may be the best method to determine population size (Wicket and Corkum 1998a).

In the Great Lakes, round gobies have been seen or captured most commonly from the bottom in areas of complex structure. They seem to prefer areas with large cobble rock and macrophytes, although they are capable of using a wide range of habitats. In the St. Clair River and southern Lake Michigan, juveniles are often found feeding in areas of open sand bottom, especially at night. During summer, round gobies are most frequently encountered near shore at depths of less than 5 m, but they have also been observed in shipwrecks and rocky reefs offshore in water more than 10 m deep (Wickett and Corkum 1998a). During winter, round gobies move into water deeper than 3 m, and in their native range, they have been found as deep as 60 m. Spawning round gobies establish nests in cavities under rocks or logs or within shipwrecks or other artificial structures (Wickett and Corkum 1998b).

Biology: Round gobies in the Great Lakes eat a variety of benthic animals, primarily invertebrates, including the non-native zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). Only limited age and growth information is available for round gobies from the Great Lakes, but in their native range, round gobies typically live up to four years, with males growing faster and reaching a larger size than females. Males are 100-130 mm TL after their first year and up to 250 mm at four years, compared with 40-90 mm and 90-140 mm for females. In the Great Lakes, females become mature in their first year (MacInnis and Corkum 2000) and males in their second or third. Males establish and aggressively guard a cavity nest (e.g., Wickett and Corkum 1998b) over an extended period from mid-May through late July when water temperatures are 9-26 C. Males attract females to their nests by producing sounds. Mature females contain from 80 to 600 eggs and lay these eggs among several nests; single nests may contain 600 to 10,000 eggs from multiple females (MacInnis and Corkum 2000). Eggs hatch in two to three weeks depending on temperature, and fry remain in the nest, guarded by the male, for four to nine days before dispersing. Round gobies can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, including temperatures from -1 to 30°C and dissolved oxygen concentrations less than 1 mg/l.

Importance and Management: There are fears that round gobies may have major effects on Great Lakes fish communities. Round gobies are larger and more aggressive than many native benthic species and may compete with them for food or habitat. Round gobies may also eat the eggs of other fishes, especially lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) (Chotkowski and Marsden 1999). In the St. Clair River, the establishment of the round goby population has been associated with an apparent decline in mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdi) and logperch (Percina caprodes) populations. In the Great Lakes proper, there are concerns that gobies may harm slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) and deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni) populations through competition for spawning areas (MacInnis and Corkum 2000).

It is unlikely that round gobies can be eliminated from the Great Lakes, so management efforts have focused on preventing their further spread. Wisconsin has enacted regulations to prohibit the capture or possession and transport of bait fish from Lake Superior or its tributaries in order to curtail inadvertent bait bucket transport of round goby, white perch, and ruffe. An electric barrier has been planned for the Illinois Waterway System in the Chicago area to prevent the movement of round gobies from the Lake Michigan basin into the Mississippi River basin (Steingraeber 1999).

Round gobies may have some value in the Great Lakes. They serve as food for larger predatory fishes and water snakes (King et al. 1999), but their importance relative to the native species they may displace is unknown. Round gobies consume zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), but whether they eat enough to help control zebra mussel populations has not been determined. Where they are common, round gobies are easily caught by anglers, and provide some sport. They are also sometimes used as bait by anglers (Wickett and Corkum 1998b). However, many anglers see round gobies as a nuisance that interferes with their fishing for other more desirable species such as yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and relatively few round gobies are harvested (personal observations). In their native range, round gobies are regularly eaten, and in some areas they support a commercial fishery.

The Authors     (back to top)

John Lyons is a research scientist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Monona and the adjunct curator of fishes at the University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum in Madison, positions he has held since 1985. He received his B.S. in biology from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research has focused on the ecology, taxonomy, and management of fishes in Wisconsin and Mexico. Mailing address: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 1350 Femrite Drive, Monona, WI  53716-3736. E-mail: lyonsj@dnr.state.wi.us.

Philip A. Cochran has been a professor of biology at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin, since 1984 but will move to a new position as a professor of biology at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona in summer 2000. He earned his B.A. in biology from St. Mary's University of Minnesota, his M.S. in fisheries biology from the University of Minnesota, and his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research has included studies of the ecology and distribution of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, with an emphasis on lampreys. Mailing address: Division of Natural Sciences, St. Norbert College, DePere, WI  54115-2099. E-mail: cochpa@sncac.snc.edu. Mailing address as of August 2000: Biology Department, St. Mary's University of Minnesota, Winona, MN  55987.

Don Fago is a research scientist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Monona and has been with the WDNR since 1970. He obtained his B.S. and M.S. in fishery biology from the University of Washington in Seattle. His research interests include nongame fishes, radio telemetry, and computer programming, including geographic information systems and database management. Mailing address: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 1350 Femrite Drive, Monona, WI  53716-3736.  E-mail: fagod@dnr.state.wi.us.

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