Relative Abundance, Age Structure, and Body Size in Mudpuppy Populations in Southwestern Ontario

Tana V. McDaniel; Pamela A. Martin; Glenn C. Barrett; Kim Hughes; Andrée D. Gendron; Lenny Shirose; Christine A. Bishop

doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2008.12.009

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1 June 2009 Relative Abundance, Age Structure, and Body Size in Mudpuppy Populations in Southwestern Ontario

Tana V. McDaniel, Pamela A. Martin, Glenn C. Barrett, Kim Hughes, Andrée D. Gendron, Lenny Shirose, Christine A. Bishop

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J. of Great Lakes Research, 35(2):182-189 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2008.12.009

Abstract

Little is known of mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) population structure and ecology; some populations in the Great Lakes are thought to be in decline. Mudpuppies are the obligate hosts for the mudpuppy mussel (Simpsonaias ambigua), a species that is endangered in Canada and in many Great Lakes states. We surveyed mudpuppies from the Sydenham River, the only known Canadian locality of the mudpuppy mussel, in order to generate information on relative density, deformity rates and population age/size structure and used this information to compare them to known mudpuppy populations from Great Lakes sites in the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and Long Point in Lake Erie. Deformity rates were elevated at some sites in the Sydenham River. The relative density of mudpuppies in the Sydenham River was lower than that of other Great Lakes sites and their age was skewed towards younger individuals. Although at lower densities than at other Great Lakes sites, the mudpuppy population in the Sydenham River appears stable and is showing signs of recruitment which bodes well for the future of the mudpuppy mussel population of the river.

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Tana V. McDaniel, Pamela A. Martin, Glenn C. Barrett, Kim Hughes, Andrée D. Gendron, Lenny Shirose, and Christine A. Bishop "Relative Abundance, Age Structure, and Body Size in Mudpuppy Populations in Southwestern Ontario," Journal of Great Lakes Research 35(2), 182-189, (1 June 2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2008.12.009

Received: 14 February 2008; Accepted: 26 December 2008; Published: 1 June 2009

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