great lakes invasion tab cd

T H E G R E A T L A K E S I N V A S I O N

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This publication was produced by Erie Times-News In Education andChicago Tribune NIE in cooperation with Pennsylvania Sea Grant,

Minnesota Sea Grant and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Programs.

News In Education

nie.chicagotribune.com

What is an Exotic Species? 2

Where Did They Come From? 3

How Do They Get Here? 4

Why Are Exotics a Problem? 5

Zebra Mussel / Quagga Mussel 6

Round Goby 7

Game - Rival For Survival 8, 9

Sea Lamprey 10

Spiny Waterflea / Fishhook Waterflea 11

Invasive Plants 12

Identify the Exotic Species 13

Where Are They Locally? 14

The Next Invader 15

Stop the Invasion! 15

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EditorAnna McCartney, NIE Coordinator

Concept & Content DevelopmentAnne Danielski,

Education and Maritime Specialist,Pennsylvania Sea Grant

Anna McCartney, NIE Coordinator

Localized Content DevelopmentRobin Goettel, Communications CoordinatorJennifer Fackler, Communications AssistantSusan White, Designer Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program

Source for InformationExotic Species Compendium of Activities to Protect the Ecosystem (ESCAPE)

DesignerDebbie Kelly

This special NIE Day supplement is brought to you by:

This Newspapers In Education section was created for syndication by Erie Times-News In Education. ©Erie Times-News In Education

Anna McCartney, NIE Coordinator at (814) 870-1820.

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sWHAT IS AN EXOTIC SPECIES?by Anna McCartney

You have probably heard stories or seen movies about creatures fromanother planet landing on earth. Some, like ET, are friendly while

others are threatening. While creatures from another planet may not bereal or a threat, threatening creatures do exist in the Great Lakes. Theyare not native, and they have invaded the Great Lakes. Even morealarming is the fact that they are spreading to other smaller lakes andwaterways all across the country, causing problems.

Do you want to know: Who or what they are? Where they came from?How they got here? Why they are so dangerous? What can you do tostop their pathway of destruction?

Just who or what are these invaders? Organisms that are consideredinvaders are called exotic species. They can be any organism that doesnot occur naturally in a specific location or ecosystem. These plants oranimals arrive through intentional or accidental actions by humans, andthose that survive always affect local ecosystems.

Purple loosestrife is an example of a plant that has been introduced intoa new environment intentionally for landscaping purposes. Otherspecies, such as zebra mussels, were unintentional travelers on oceanfreighters.

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ESCAPE was produced by Illinois-Indiana Sea GrantCollege Program in partnership with these Sea GrantCollege Programs in the Great Lakes Network: Michigan,Minnesota, New York and Ohio.

After reading thissupplement, look at thepolitical cartoons in today’snewspaper. Can you draw apolitical cartoon dealingwith the problemsassociated with theintroduction of exoticspecies?


© D. Riddle

News In Education

nie.chicagotribune.com501(c)3 non-profit organization

Use the newspaper to findstories that mentionenvironmental issues. Makea list of any problems youfind. Are any of themrelated to nuisance species?How many of them arecaused by people?

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WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?by Anna McCartney

Exotic invaders have arrived in the Great Lakes from many different bodies of water from outside of North America. Not allexotic species are brought from overseas. Some like the Coho Salmon, a native of the Pacific coast from California to Alaska,

were introduced into the Great Lakes as early as the late 1800’s. There are many organisms that were introduced so many years agothat we tend to think they are native. One such example is the carp. However, most of the nonindigenous introductions are theresult of human activities since the European colonization of North America.

Many exotics, like the zebra mussel, round goby, ruffe, and the spiny and fishhook waterfleas came from the Caspian Sea region ofPoland and Russia. Alewife, white perch and sea lamprey came from the Atlantic coast. Purple loosestrife was brought to the U.S.from Europe, and Eurasian watermilfoil came from Europe, Asia and North Africa. (Find the originating regions on the world map.)The interconnectivity of the Great Lakes system provides a relativelyeasy pathway for exotic species to spread once they arrive in the GreatLakes.

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EXOTICSON THE MOVE!

Which invaders originated in thecircled region?

ACTIVITY - Tracethe pathway ofGreat Lakes ExoticInvaders: If a zebramussel was foundon a ship travelingin the St. LawrenceRiver and wanted toget to LakeSuperior, what pathwould the boat needto travel? Write thename of each bodyof water startingwith the St.Lawrence River.

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Michigan Travel Bureau

HOW DO THEY GET HERE?by Anna McCartney

Since the arrival of 5 new species found in Thunder Bay thissummer, there have been over 170 species introduced into

the Great Lakes. It is estimated that about 15 percent of the 175species of fish in the Great Lakes are invaders that wereintroduced accidentally or intentionally. Roughly 10-15% ofthese species have become invasive.

A few of the invasive species have had very substantial impactson the Great Lakes ecosystem. Natural barriers, like NiagaraFalls, previously prevented them from reaching four of the fiveGreat Lakes. But once shipping canals were opened, thesespecies found their way to the Great Lakes and many of themspread, competing with organisms already living there. Becausesome of the invaders do so well in their new H.O.M.E.S.1 theydecimate populations of native species.

Although the invaders did not come here in a spaceship, manydid arrive by hitching rides to the Great Lakes region in theballast water of ships coming through the Saint LawrenceSeaway. Ships take on ballast for stability and safety duringtravel to balance their load. At first sand and stones were usedas solid ballast. But in the last 100 years or so they werereplaced by water. Because ballast tanks are filled with thesematerials or water from the harbor wherever ships originate,

many of the organisms living there are loaded unintentionally.When ships arrive at their new destination, they dump theballast and any organisms that were present. Scientists thinkmany of today’s invaders, such as the zebra mussel, round goby,ruffe, and spiny waterflea were sucked up from Europeanharbors by powerful water pumps and were left behind whenthe water was dumped. It is estimated that 34 percent of theinvader species entered the Great Lakes in solid ballast and 56percent through ballast-water. Without other means to preventthese species from entering ballast tanks in the first place,invasive species will continue to arrive by ballast waterdischarge. Reports forecast that ballast management techniquesthat work could take another ten years to develop. This is duemostly to the economic impact that stringent ballast-waterstandards would have.

1 Can you guess what H.O.M.E.S. stands for? See page 15 for theanswer.

Detroit River

Ballast discharge

Talk with your classabout the impact offlight on globalinvasions of speciesthat travelintentionally orunintentionally.Consider travel,defense, commerce

and how this can affect the introduction of newproblems. Support your ideas with stories andarticles from today’s newspaper. Do you think it ispossible we introduced exotic species when welanded on the moon? (Learning standards:understanding interrelationships between economic,political, technological and environmental activitiesand their affect on the ecosystem.)

WHY ARE EXOTICS A PROBLEM?by Anna McCartney

Foreign species threaten ecosystems in unpredictable ways.Their invasion can displace native organisms by competing

for the same resources. Because they lack natural predators theirpopulation increases rapidly and they begin to dominate an area.Each time another foreign invader enters the already abusedGreat Lakes environment, it has the potential to add to theexisting problems. Some of these include a decrease in the nativepopulation, a loss of genetic diversity, habitat destruction, overfishing, pollution, and an eventual destruction of the healthybalance of the ecosystem. This form of biological pollution is notonly difficult to manage, it is almost impossible to eliminate andcreates a costly burden now and for generations to come.

When people intentionally introduce anexotic species, they often do not imaginethe problems it can cause for theenvironment. Although purpleloosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is abeautiful plant, its introduction hasresulted in much more than an expanseof beautiful purple flowers. Invasiveplants like purple loosestrife are aproblem in aquatic and wetland habitatsthroughout the Great Lakes and NorthAmerica. They quickly establish

themselves in their new environment displacing native plants.Their introduction results in environmental and economicproblems, such as impairment of water-based recreation,navigation and flood control, degradation of water quality,destruction of fish and wildlife habitat through elimination offood and shelter, accelerated filling of lakes and reservoirs anddecline in property values.

Often, people unintentionally make itpossible for exotic species to invadean area. When the Welland Canal wasimproved in 1919, sea lampreys(Petromyzon marinus) entered LakeErie and quickly spread to LakeHuron and Lake Michigan. By 1938they had entered Lake Superior.Lacking natural predators in the Great Lakes, sea lampreyscaused a rapid decline in the number of native freshwater fishlike whitefish and lake trout affecting the sport and commercialfishing industry which is valued at almost $4.5 billion annually.In fact, there was a collapse in the commercial fisheries duringthe 1940s and 1950s in many parts of the Great Lakes,particularly in lakes Huron and Michigan, and in eastern LakeSuperior. Although the number of sea lamprey in the Great

Lakes has beenreduced, they areimpeding therebuilding ofestablishedpopulations of fishsuch as lake trout.

When the alewife(Alosa pseudoharengus)invaded the GreatLakes from theAtlantic Ocean during

the late 1940s their populations increased uncontrollably becausethe sea lamprey had greatly reduced the population of naturallarge predators. Enormous die-offs resulted with additionalchanges to fish species composition in the lakes.

Invaders like zebramussels (Dreissenapolymorpha) are filterfeeders. This allows themto remove the tinyphytoplankton (smallplants) and zooplankton(small animals) found inthe water. By taking awayfood from native mussels,

fish and clams, they can ultimately affect humans that may usethe native species for a food source. This amazing ability to filterwater also allows sunlight to penetrate normally unlit areas,causing intense algae blooms, further affecting the food chainand habitats of aquatic animals. Zebra mussels also tend toclump together as theycolonize. This trait hascaused millions ofdollars in damage towater intake pipes.

Recent outbreaks ofbotulism in Lake Erieand Lake Ontario arethought to be linked to zebra/quagga mussels and round gobies(Neogobius melanostomus), which transmit botulinum toxin tobirds and fish that eat mussels and gobies. This has resulted inlarge-scale die-offs of fish, amphibians, and birds on Lake Erieover the past three years. Although several herring gulls andducks tested positive for botulism poisoning on Lake Ontario in2002, there have been no large die-offs there.

Each year tens of millions of dollars are spent on prevention andcontrol of exotics. Municipalities and industries spent $120million just to control zebra mussels from 1989 -1994. Theeconomic consequences will continue to grow because of thenumbers of increasing nonindigenous species.

The negative effects ofthe invaders go on.Whatever the invader,it has the capacity todisrupt the ecosystem ifit does well in its newenvironment. As wehave seen, it isimportant for us tounderstand why theseinvaders pose seriousproblems.

Can you name the mostdangerous invadingspecies that almostalways causes moredestruction than anyother species whereverit goes? See page 15 forthe answer.

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why are exotics a problem

Look through today’snewspaper and find articlesand ads pertaining tobusinesses in our area. Make alist of the local businesses. Inwhat ways can nuisancespecies cause problems forthem?

Purple Loosestrife

Sea Lamprey

T H E G R E A T L A K E S I N V A S I O NDead Alewife

Zebra Mussels

Round Goby

ZEBRA MUSSEL AND QUAGGAMUSSELby Anna McCartney

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are small, fingernail-sized mussels, native to Asia. Larvae are microscopic and

adults grow from 1/4 to 1 inch in size. The zebra mussel is arecent invader that moved into Lake St. Clair near Detroit in1988. The first zebra mussels are believed to have hitched a ridefrom their native Ukraine and Russia in ballast water taken fromthe Black and Caspian Seas. They were left behind when theballast water was dumped. Zebra mussels have been introducedto the all the Great Lakes and have spread into many inlandwaterways including the Mississippi River and are showing upin inland lakes. Because they are capable of reproducing rapidlyand in great numbers, they will probably continue to expandtheir geographic range.

The quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis), a close relative to thezebra mussel, was introduced into the Great Lakes in the early1990s. Quagga mussels are now found in much of Lake Erie,Lake Ontario, the Erie Canal, the upper St. Lawrence River andparts of Lake Huron. Quagga mussels look much like zebramussels and live in many of the same habitats, on hardsubstrates and onthe floor of lakesand streams.Quagga musselsprefer deeper,colder waters. Bothzebra mussels andquagga musselshave striped shells,but normally, theycan bedifferentiated bythe shape of theshell. Quaggasoften have palershells with finerlines than zebra

mussels, but thecolor patterns ofboth species canvary considerably.Quagga and zebramussels attach tohard substratesusing tiny hairscalled byssalthreads. Onceattached, they canbe very difficult toremove (see photo).

On average onefemale can produceup to 30,000 eggseach year. Even though only about 1 percent of the offspringsurvives, this rapid rate of reproduction is a cause for concern.Beds of mussels in Lake Erie often contain between 30,000 and100,000 mussels, so the potential for overpopulation is great.

In many areas of the Great Lakes, they cover virtually all hardsurfaces, causing damage to beaches, boats, docks, and waterintake pipes by clogging water systems and irrigation pipes.They have severely reduced and eliminated native musselspecies. Microscopic larvae may be carried in livewells or bilge

water and adults can attach to boats that sit in thewater.

?Assuming 1% of the 30,000 offspring each female zebra musselproduces survives, at the end of the first year there willbe a total of 302 zebra mussels (300surviving offspring plus the original2).

Assuming one-half of thepopulation is female can youfigure how many more zebramussels will be produced inyear 2, 3, 4 and 5?

The answer is on page 15.

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FIGUREIT OUT!

Quagga Mussel shown is larger than actual size.

Zebra Mussel shown is larger than actualsize.

This shopping cart was left in zebra mussel-infested waters for a few months. The mussels have colonizedevery available surface on the cart.

September 2002

ZebraMussel

Sightings

ACROSS4. Water that is not salty.6. Exotic plants and animals have been invading these areas, mainly withhuman assistance.8. Water carried in ships that is responsible for transporting many exoticspecies to the Great Lakes.10. Process by which organisms create more of their own kind.14. All of the conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding and

affecting the development of an organism.16. Eurasian water plant that forms thick mats that choke out nativeplants.19. Living organism not in the animal kingdom.20. Indigenous plant or animal.22. Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, _________________.23. Herring-like fish that is capable of rapidly increasing its population.24. Bottom-dwelling fish that have large heads, soft bodies, and slightly

resemble large tadpoles.25. Wetland plant that displays a light purple flower,“the beautiful killer.”

DOWN1. Fingernail-sized mollusk that primarily consumesphytoplankton.2. Entrance of unwanted plants or animals into a newenvironment.3. Self-sustaining community of organisms.5. Small, aggressive fish that mature quickly andresemble yellow perch.7. This type of vertebrate animal can easily movethrough rivers and canal waters.9. Multicellular, cells do not have cell walls, andcannot make nutrients from inorganic matter.11. Species transported by humans to regions wherethey did not historically exist.12. Group of invertebrate animals that have softbodies and are usually enclosed in a shell (e.g., snail,clam).13. Tiny crustacean with a long, sharp, barbed tail.15. Something that does not live or grow naturally ina particular region or environment.17. Group of aquatic arthropods having anexoskeleton (e.g., lobster, shrimp, crabs).18. Predatory, eel-like fish.21. Careful search or investigation to make

discoveries.

EXOTIC SPECIES CROSSWORD

ROUND GOBYby Anna McCartney

The round goby, (Neogobius melanostomus) is a bottom-dwelling fish that resembles a tadpole with its large head.

Native to Eastern Europe, they probably entered the lowerGreat Lakes in the ballast water of transoceanic ships. They were

first discovered in Lake St. Clair in 1990. Because they have no effectivepredators, can spawn several times per year and are aggressive, they areharmful to the native bottom-dwellers like sculpins, log perch and darters.The round goby takes over prime spawning sites traditionally used bynative species by competing with them for habitat. Round gobies cansurvive in degraded water conditions, forage in total darkness and spawnmore often and over a longer period than native fish. Because adults cangrow to about 10 inches and can reach densities of over 100 per square yard,they dominate fisheries quickly. This has allowed them a rapid range of

expansion throughout theGreat Lakes area includingErie, Michigan and Superior,and to many rivers includingthe Mississippi upsetting thebalance of the ecosystem.

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round goby

(The answer key for this puzzle is on page 15.)

Photos are not to scale.


ABOUT ROUND GOBIES

• Native to Caspian and Black Seas • First U.S. appearance, St. Clair River, 1990• Adapted to marine and fresh water • Fused pelvic fins, spot on dorsal fin• Bottom dweller with raised eyes • Aggressive behavior• Populations expanding rapidly

SEA LAMPREYby Anna McCartney

The sea lamprey (Petromyzonmarinus) is a primitive,

exotic fish that was introducedto the Great Lakes system.

Unlike most fish, a lamprey’sbody lacks bones, scales, paired fins,

a lateral line and swim bladder. They are called the “Vampire ofthe Great Lakes” because they attach to fish and suck out theirbody fluids and tissues.

Sea lampreys occur naturally in the Coastal Atlantic Ocean. Butwhen they migrated through the Welland Canal, in the early1900’s they became invaders that disrupted the ecosystem. By1938 they had invaded all the Great Lakes. They feed onvaluable fish such as lake trout, whitefish, and burbot. Thelamprey uses its sucker-like mouth with its sharp teeth to attack

the fish, leaving openwounds that maybecome infected.Because they do nothave predators in theGreat Lakes, theyhave caused a declineof native fish

(predominantly lake trout) and a disruption of thepredator-prey balance by removing the toppredators.

Normally they live inthe ocean andmigrate tofreshwater tospawn but theycan live theirentire lives infreshwater. The small worm-likelarvae burrow into mud instream bottoms anywhere fromthree to fourteen years andfeed on plankton (algae). Theadults migrate into the Great Lakes where they generally livetwelve to twenty months feeding on other fish. Adults swimupstream to spawn and then die.

Through the cooperation of various agencies, a control programusing several techniques has been tried to attack sea lampreysduring different stages of the life cycle. Overall the controlmeasures seem to be working. These efforts have resulted in90% reduction of sea lamprey populations in most areas. (Go towww.seagrant.umn.edu/exotics/lamprey.html/)

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There are 5 Great Lakes - I like to call my H.O.M.E.S.Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.There’s fishing and boating and swimming and fun,All this and their beauty for everyone.

But all is not wellBecause of some species, I’ll call fakesThat hitched rides from other watersAnd infested the Great Lakes.

The once balanced ecosystem has been under attackBy the likes of zebra mussels, round goby, and ruffe.They don’t have natural predators and multiply so fastThen take over because they can be so tough.

The sad events we have been seeingCaused mostly by thoughtless Human BeingsWho don’t think much about the effects of their actionsThat hurt lakes and native species for future generations.

Zebra and quagga mussels came in on shipsThey spread through lakes and rivers lickety split.

They foul up boat motors and clogwater pipes

Taking the food of others for theirown delight!

Sea lampreys are the vampires of the Lakes,A bloodsucking enemy they do make.

From the Atlantic through the Erie Canal they came,To kill lots of fish - that is their game.

Fishhook and spiny waterfleas are so very tiny.How could these Crustaceans be so mighty?

They feed on zooplankton that small fish needAnd they reproduce as fast as can be.

Ruffe, round goby, carp and alewifeThey too take food and space fromindigenous life.

DestructiveEurasian watermilfoil

is spreading aboutMore invading species than I careto count.

If we ALL think, we can find better solutionsWe’re the future of this world, its scientists and teachers

Let’s work hard to improve the Great Lakes and other watersNot only for ourselves but for all of its creatures

What can we do to make a difference?Remember it takes only one little mistake,For one boater, angler, or swimmer to infest alake.

So clean and inspect boats and any gearBefore going to a lake far or near.Let them dry for at least 5 days in the sun We can stop the spread, COME ON EVERYONE!

THE GREAT LAKES INVASION RAP

Sea Lampreyson a Lake Trout

Sea Lamprey


SPINY WATERFLEA ANDFISHHOOK WATERFLEAby Anna McCartney

The spiny waterflea, (Bythotrephes [bith-o-TREH-feez]longimanus) BC is not an insect but a small predacious

crustacean (crustaceans include species like crayfish and shrimp)with an average length slightly larger than 1 centimeter (0.4inches) of which 70% is a long, sharp, barbed tail spine. It wasfirst found in Lake Ontario in 1982 probably imported to theGreat Lakes ecosystem from European ports, especially the portof St. Petersburg, Russia via ballast water that was dischargedwhen arriving here. By 1987, they had spread to all of the GreatLakes and currently infect inland lakes in Michigan, Minnesota,and southern Ontario.

Like other invasive species they reproduce rapidly. Each femalecan produce up to 10 offspring every two weeks during warmsummer conditions. Furthermore, eggs that are produced as thetemperatures drop can lie dormant all winter. This rapidreproduction might not present a problem except they lackpredators to keep them in check. They compete with youngperch and other small fish for food such as “Daphnia”zooplankton. Its sharp spines make it extremely hard for smallfish to eat so their populations remain highwhile populations of plankton havedeclined. This imbalance has the potentialto further alter food webs of the GreatLakes.

The fishhook waterflea, (Cercopagis pengoi)a relative of the spiny waterflea was firstfound in Lake Ontario in 1998 and spreadfrom Lake Ontario to southern LakeMichigan in a single year. It originatedfrom the Caspian Sea in Eastern Europeand reached North America despite the1993 mandatory ballast water managementexchange program that bans ships fromdischarging freshwater from foreignsources into the Great Lakes.

Cercopagis resembles BC except for the “S” shaped hook orbend in its long tail. Both are hard to see because of a clearto milk-white body. Large black eyes make them morevisible, especially when individuals are clumped togetherin large groups. Commercial fishermen complain whentheir normally dark-colored fishing nets fouled withfishhook waterfleas look like they are covered with frost.

The fishhook waterflea quickly spread to the six FingerLakes in upstate New York most likely by fishermen via

their fishing equipment.It is becoming prolificand will likely become anuisance for all the GreatLakes and otherwaterways. In fact,reports from 2002 show itis now appearing in largenumbers off of Erie, PAnear the divide betweenthe eastern and centralbasin. While down-rigging for walleye ninemiles northeast ofPresque Isle, BobWellington, AquaticBiologist for the ErieCounty HealthDepartment collectedseveral thousandindividuals on August31, 2002. Anglers down-rigging for walleye andsteelhead complainbecause waterfleas are tangling around their lines making it verydifficult to reel them in. Because of the fishhook’s longer tail, itmay be more efficient at wrapping around angler fishing linesand therefore responsible for more complaints.

Spread of exotic waterfleas to inland lakes from the Great Lakesis anticipated to be a serious problem in the coming years. Manyinland lakes are already reporting infestations of both spiny andfishhook waterfleas making it a serious issue. Both fleas havebeen reported clinging to fishing lines, downrigger cables, andeven swimwear. Eggs and adults may wind up unseen in bilgewater, bait buckets, and livewells. Fishing lines and downriggerswill often be coated with both eggs and adults making it difficult

for fisherman to reel in theirlines. In addition to the Lakersand sea-going ships, both fleascan be spread when boats,fishing and diving equipmentbecome contaminated and arethen used in other waters. We mustall help to stop these invaders.

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Fishing line infested with Spiny waterfleas


INVASIVE PLANTSby Anna McCartney

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EXOTIC SPECIES GANG

WANTED FOR DISRUPTION OF OUR ECOSYSTEM:(Describe how exotic species

disrupt the ecosystem.)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Round Goby

Spiny Waterflea

Sea Lamprey

Ruffe

Zebra Mussel


Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is oneexample of a harmful exotic wetland plant.

It has had multiple introductions fromnorthern Europe to eastern North America inthe 1800’s as a garden flower, for bee keepingand in discarded soil used as ballast on ships.It spreads easily from gardens to wet areas,marshes and ditches. Because it is aggressive,has no natural predators and has almost nofood value, it is very harmful to wetlandswhere it crowds out the native plants and fillsopen spaces. The resulting thick stands ofpurple loosestrife reduce food, shelter andnesting sites for wildlife, birds, turtles andfrogs. This European species has invadednearly every U.S. state and at least sixCanadian provinces. If you see it, don’ttransplant it!

Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)was probably intentionally introduced and isthe most troublesome of the non-native watermilfoils. It was brought here from Europe, Asiaand North Africa to be used as an aquariumplant and was first discovered in WashingtonD.C. in the 1940s. No one ever thought thisfeathery submerged aquatic plant wouldspread to almost every U.S. state and at leastthree Canadian provinces forming thick matsin shallow areas of lakes and rivers. Milfoilspreads when plant pieces break off and floaton water currents. It can cross over land tonew waters by clinging to sailboats, personalwatercraft, powerboats, motors, trailers andfishing gear. It is the subject of many controlefforts, in the northern tier of states and inCanada, where it fills recreation and fishinglakes, interferes with wildlife, degrades waterquality and disrupts all forms of water recreationincluding boating, swimming and fishing.

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IDENTIFY THE EXOTIC SPECIESExotic Species Tableid

entify th

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Exotic Species Origin Point of Invasion Date of Range Impact Habitat ControlInvasion

Eurasian Watermilfoil

Purple Loosestrife

Zebra/Quagga Mussel

Spiny Waterflea

Fishhook Waterflea

Round Goby

Ruffe

Sea Lamprey

8. Species name:

4. Species name:

7. Species name:

3. Species name:

5. Species name:1. Species name:

2. Species name:6. Species name:


Answer key on page 15.

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M A K E T H E D I F F E R E N C E !Don’t forget – YOU can PREVENT the spread of aquatic nuisance species by learning how to identify them and knowing what to do when you find one! Help save our aquatic ecosystems!

Thank you Kristin TePas, Patrice Charlebois and Thomas Post, for providing local species sightings.

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STOP THE INVASION!by Anna McCartney

People serve as the main sourceof transport of exotic species to

other locations. We must takeresponsibility and help protect ournative ecosystems.

Please take the followingprecautions to help prevent thespread of exotic species.✔ Inspect your boat, trailer, diving,boating and fishing equipment andremove any visible plants oranimals before leaving any water body. ✔ Drain water from motor, live well, bilge and transom wellswhile on land before leaving.✔ Empty your bait bucket on land before leaving.✔ Never release live bait into a water body, or release animalsfrom one water body into another. ✔ Wash/Dry your boat and equipment to kill harmful speciesthat were not seen at the boat launch. Some species can survivefor several days out of water, so it is important to:

■ Rinse your boat and equipment with hot tap water (>40˚ C; >104˚ F); or ■ Spray your boat and equipment with high pressure water (250 psi); or

■ Dry your boat and equipment for at least five days, before transporting to another water body.

✔ Never transplant plants or otherliving organisms to newenvironments.✔ Use plants that are native. Besure any you do plant are

noninvasive in your area.

Learn to identify exotic species. To enable biologists to trackthe spread of invaders, up-to-date information on new sightingsis needed. Your assistance is extremely important. You can alsolet lawmakers know the importance of making and enforcinglaws involving transport of these species because of commerceand travel. If you think you’ve spotted an aquatic exotic speciesin your local waterway, please contact your local Sea GrantProgram or wildlife conservation agency. Be prepared todescribe when and where you found it. DO NOT THROW ITBACK ALIVE.

Look at ads in today’s newspaper. Whichones do you feel are most effective? Whatdo they include that make them effective?Create an ad informing the public on waysto stop the spread of exotic species.

EXOTIC SPECIES CROSSWORDFROM PAGE 7.

ACROSS4. FRESHWATER6. GREAT LAKES8. BALLAST10. REPRODUCE14. ENVIRONMENT16. MILFOIL19. PLANT20. NATIVE22. SPECIES23. ALEWIFE24. ROUND GOBY25. PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE

DOWN1. ZEBRA MUSSEL2. INVASIONS3. ECOSYSTEM5. RUFFE7. FISH9. ANIMALS11. EXOTIC12. MOLLUSKS13. SPINY WATERFLEA15. NONINDIGENOUS17. CRUSTACEANS18. SEA LAMPREY21. RESEARCH

FROM PAGE 4.H.O.M.E.S. is an acronym for the five Great Lakes:Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior, to help youremember them.

FROM PAGE 5.Can you name the most dangerous invading species thatalmost always causes more destruction than any otherspecies wherever it goes? Answer: humans

FIGURE IT OUT FROM PAGE 6.Take the number of the previous year and divide by two(which are the females). Multiply this new number by300 ( the number of zebra mussels per female). Add thisnumber to the previous year’s population.

Year 2) 45,602 Year 3) 6,885,902Year 4) 1,039,771,202 Year 5) 157,005,451,502


THE NEXT INVADER – ASIAN CARPby Irene Miles

Bighead and silver carp have been moving upthe Illinois River towards the Chicago Sanitary

and Ship Canal where an electric barrier standsbetween them and Lake Michigan. These Asian carp,which have grown to 50 pounds in U.S. waters, were broughthere for use in aquaculture inthe 1970s. Asian carp consumezooplankton, which all fishestypically feed on in their

juvenile stages, so they have the potential to adversely affect everyspecies of fish in the Mississippi River and Great Lakes. For a gateway toinformation on Illinois aquatic nuisance species, management researchand outreach activities, visit www.iisgcp.org/il-ans/.

FROM PAGE 13.1. Fishhook waterflea 2. Round goby 3. Zebra mussel 4. Eurasian watermilfoil5. Spiny waterflea 6. Eurasian ruffe 7. Sea lamprey 8. Purple Loosestrife

ANSWER KEYS

Asian Carp

!

stop

the in

vasion

Spray your boat and equipmentwith high pressure water.

Here are some zebra musselstrying to hitch a ride.

Go to www.iisgcp.org/il-ans/canido.htm

for more informationand activities.

Sea Grant is a partnership between the nation’s universities and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that began in 1966 when Congress passed the National Sea Grant College and Program Act with a mission to promote the development, use, and conservation of the nation’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant was formed in 1982 in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana. The program fosters the creation and stewardship of an enhanced and sustainable environment and economy along southern Lake Michigan and in the Great Lakes region through research, education and outreach. For more information on Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant projects and services please contact the Communications office.

Robin GoettelUniversity of Illinois

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant368 NSRC, MC-635

1101 West Peabody DriveUrbana, Illinois 61801

[email protected]

Made possible by the generosity of:

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F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N ,photos, and fun ways to learn about

exotic aquatic species, visit these Web sites:

www.iisgcp.org/edu/br

www.iisgcp.org/EXOTICSP

www.iisgcp.org/il-ans/

www.invasivespecies.gov

www.sgnis.org

great lakes invasion tab cd

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