<p> The widespread introduction of round goby (<i>Neogobius melanostomus </i>) throughout the Great Lakes basin has raised concerns regarding increased risk of egg predation on nesting fish species. Five-minute observation trials were conducted to determine the identity and number of nest predators on rock bass (<i>Ambloplites rupestris</i>), pumpkinseed (<i>Lepomis gibbosus</i>), and smallmouth bass (<i>Micropterus dolomieu</i>) nests following removal of the guarding male. Rock bass had a greater proportion of nests invaded (85.4 %) and average number of predators per nest (9.32, SE 1.7) than pumpkinseed (45.0%, 1.83, SE 0.64) in 2011. Similarly, rock bass had a greater proportion of nests invaded (52.5%) and average number of predators per nest (5.3, SE 1.7) than pumpkinseed (35.0%, 2.3, SE 1.1) and smallmouth bass (37.5%, 2.7, SE 0.94) in 2012. Principal components analysis and canonical correspondence analysis of habitat variables indicates some species are more vulnerable to nest predation due to preferred spawning habitat. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:1540942 |
| Date | 15 August 2013 |
| Creators | Killourhy, Christina |
| Publisher | State University of New York Col. of Environmental Science & Forestry |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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