1. Round Gobies are small, defendant and aggressive fish. They will eat eggs of native fish like log perch, sculpers, and darters. They will very aggressively defend spawning areas, which prevents native fish from being able to spawn in these areas. Round gobies also have amazing water motion sensing skills, which allows them to hunt deep under water, in pitch black. Because they can live so deep in the water, round gobies have very few predators. Females mature at 1-2 years, and males mature at 3-4 years. During summer and spring, Round Gobies spawn for a long period of time, and each female lays between 300-5000 eggs. What Will Round Gobies do to Great Lakes Streams?
2. The round goby is a small, bottom-dwelling invasive fish. Native to the Black and Caspian seas in eastern Europe, it was first found in North America in 1990 in the St. Clair River north of Windsor, Ontario. Researchers believe the fish was brought to North America in the ballast water of ships from Europe. In less than a decade the round goby has successfully spread through all five Great Lakes and has begun to invade inland waters. In some areas the fish has reached densities of more than 100 fish per square metre.
3. After round gobies were found in the St. Clair River, it is believed they spread to all the Great Lakes because of small boats such as boats used for fishing or water sports. If a boat was in the St. Clair River, and water got into the hull, some round gobies would get in too. Then if the boat owner did not drain the hull, and then used the boat in one of the Great Lakes, the round gobies escaped the boat hull and spread all over the Great Lakes.
4. In all these regions, the round goby has had a marked impact on the biological,chemical and physical systems within the ecosystem it invades. In the biological arena, the round gobies’ aggressive nature enables them to out compete native species of fish, such as the Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdi) a native Great Lakes species, for food and breeding/nesting territories (Dubs & Corkum, 1996). Dubs and Corkum investigated the behavioral interactions between these two species when they are introduced into the same habitat. Their results indicated that while the round gobies rarely gave up their territory to invaders, the mottled sculpins almost always abandoned their territory to the invading aggressive round goby.
5. It is impossible to remove every round goby from our great lakes, but in 2005 an interesting approach was taken in order to slow the spread of them. Pefferlaw Brook was a victim of round goby invasion, so they deposited rotenone, an organic pesticide, into the brook. This pesticide was only poisonous to round gobies, NOT any mammals, reptiles, and almost every fish species. Unfortunately, this was not a very good long-term approach.
6. I have learned that the round goby is a unique invasive fish because it has came from the black and caspian seas and that it has big effects on the ecosystem even tho it is very small.
7. Here is a list of things you can do to help slow the invasion of round gobies: -learn to identify round gobies, and report anytime you catch or see one. You will have to describe the fish, and where you saw/caught it. -always drain the hull of your boat before going into another lake -never release a fish into a different body of water than it was caught in -dispose of unused fish bait properly
B3.5 Identify various factors related to human activity that have impacted on ecosystems (the introduction of invasive species) and explain how these factors affect the equilibrium in an ecosystem.
Category
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Knowledge and Understanding:
Answers to questions on topic.
Demonstrates little understanding of the basic concepts of the topic.
Demonstrates some understanding of the basic concepts of the topic.
Demonstrates understanding of most of the basic concepts of the topic.
Demonstrates thorough understanding of content of the topic.
Thinking and Inquiry:
Choses relevant and interesting pictures, videos, and links.
Uses processing skills and strategies with limited effectiveness
Uses processing skills and strategies with some effectiveness
Uses processing skills and strategies with considerable effectiveness
Uses processing skills and strategies with thorough effectiveness
Communication
Spelling, grammar, neatness and organization.
Expresses and organizes ideas and information with limited effectiveness
Expresses and organizes ideas and information with some effectiveness
Expresses and organizes ideas and information with considerable effectiveness
Expresses and organizes ideas and information with thorough effectiveness
Application:
Apply functions and capabilities of Wiki to page.
Use few of the elements and functions of Wiki. Just pictures and plain words.
Use some of the elements and functions of Wiki. Pictures, text, videos.
Use a considerable amount of the elements and functions of Wiki. Links, videos, actions.
Fully uses the elements and functions of Wiki to present a creative and appealing page.
Research Questions:
1. Round Gobies are small, defendant and aggressive fish. They will eat eggs of native fish like log perch, sculpers, and darters. They will very aggressively defend spawning areas, which prevents native fish from being able to spawn in these areas. Round gobies also have amazing water motion sensing skills, which allows them to hunt deep under water, in pitch black. Because they can live so deep in the water, round gobies have very few predators. Females mature at 1-2 years, and males mature at 3-4 years. During summer and spring, Round Gobies spawn for a long period of time, and each female lays between 300-5000 eggs.
What Will Round Gobies do to Great Lakes Streams?
2. The round goby is a small, bottom-dwelling invasive fish. Native to the Black and Caspian seas in eastern Europe, it was first found in North America in 1990 in the St. Clair River north of Windsor, Ontario. Researchers believe the fish was brought to North America in the ballast water of ships from Europe. In less than a decade the round goby has successfully spread through all five Great Lakes and has begun to invade inland waters. In some areas the fish has reached densities of more than 100 fish per square metre.
3. After round gobies were found in the St. Clair River, it is believed they spread to all the Great Lakes because of small boats such as boats used for fishing or water sports. If a boat was in the St. Clair River, and water got into the hull, some round gobies would get in too. Then if the boat owner did not drain the hull, and then used the boat in one of the Great Lakes, the round gobies escaped the boat hull and spread all over the Great Lakes.
4. In all these regions, the round goby has had a marked impact on the biological,chemical and physical systems within the ecosystem it invades. In the biological arena, the round gobies’ aggressive nature enables them to out compete native species of fish, such as the Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdi) a native Great Lakes species, for food and breeding/nesting territories (Dubs & Corkum, 1996). Dubs
and Corkum investigated the behavioral interactions between these two species when they are introduced into the same habitat. Their results indicated that while the round gobies rarely gave up their territory to invaders, the mottled sculpins almost always abandoned their territory to the invading aggressive round goby.
5. It is impossible to remove every round goby from our great lakes, but in 2005 an interesting approach was taken in order to slow the spread of them. Pefferlaw Brook was a victim of round goby invasion, so they deposited rotenone, an organic pesticide, into the brook. This pesticide was only poisonous to round gobies, NOT any mammals, reptiles, and almost every fish species. Unfortunately, this was not a very good long-term approach.
6. I have learned that the round goby is a unique invasive fish because it has came from the black and caspian seas and that it has big effects on the ecosystem even tho it is very small.
7. Here is a list of things you can do to help slow the invasion of round gobies:
-learn to identify round gobies, and report anytime you catch or see one. You will have to describe the fish, and where you saw/caught it.
-always drain the hull of your boat before going into another lake
-never release a fish into a different body of water than it was caught in
-dispose of unused fish bait properly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M740wdW9EG0 here is a video about the round goby sorry there was not a embed option
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/Fishing/Aquatic-Nuisance-Species/Aquatic-Nuisance-Species-List/Round-Goby
https://sites.google.com/site/roundgobyinvasivespecies1/what-is-being-done-to-prevent-round-gobie
http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/ais/gobies_invade#do
https://sites.google.com/site/roundgobyinvasivespecies1/what-is-being-done-to-prevent-round-gobie
B3.5 Identify various factors related to human activity that have impacted on ecosystems (the introduction of invasive species) and explain how these factors affect the equilibrium in an ecosystem.
Answers to questions on topic.
Choses relevant and interesting pictures, videos, and links.
Spelling, grammar, neatness and organization.
Apply functions and capabilities of Wiki to page.