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Juvenile Drift of Round Goby as a Means of Range Expansion in the French Creek Watershed, Pennsylvania

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Author(s)
Hemmelgarn, Grace L.
Bradshaw-Wilson, Casey
Demi, Lee M.
Date Issued
February 17, 2025
Abstract
An ongoing invasion of Neogobius melanostomus (Round Goby) is threatening the unique biodiversity of the French Creek watershed (FCW), a tributary to the Allegheny River located primarily in northwestern Pennsylvania. Management strategies depend on knowledge of dispersal mechanisms. Juvenile drift is an important mechanism of Round Goby dispersal in other populations that is currently unexamined in this system. Our objective was to document the presence of juvenile Round Goby drift, describe temporal drift patterns, and describe the community of drifting fish families in the presence and absence of Round Goby within the FCW. We collected drifting larval fishes with drift nets twice a month from June to August 2021 at 3 sites in the FCW: 1 with an established Round Goby population in LeBoeuf Creek (LC), 1 at the invasion front in the French Creek main stem (FCI), and 1 not currently known to be colonized by Round Goby in the French Creek main stem (FCII). Across all sampling dates and sites, we collected 2689 fishes from 9 families, with 71.5% of drift occurring in June. We captured a total of 172 Round Goby, representing 17.5% of drift (163 individuals) at LC and 1.7% of drift (9 individuals) at FCI. No drifting Round Goby were captured at the currently uninvaded FCII site. All Round Goby drift occurred entirely after sunset. Goby total length was consistent from June to early August with a mean of 7.8 mm. This study presents the first documented evidence of Round Goby juvenile drift in the FCW, which may inform management strategies to limit the spread of this invasive species to larger waterways downstream.
Journal
Northeastern Naturalist
Department
Environmental Science and Sustainability
Citation
Hemmelgarn, Grace L., Casey Bradshaw-Wilson, and Lee M. Demi. "Juvenile Drift of Round Goby as a Means of Range Expansion in the French Creek Watershed, Pennsylvania." Northeastern Naturalist 32, no. 1 (March, 2025): 80–102. doi:10.1656/045.032.0106. https://doi.org/10.1656/045.032.0106.
Publisher
Eagle Hill Institute
Version of Article
Published version
Embargo
Authors in this journal are free to post their research on their institutional online repositories. For more information go to https://www.eaglehill.us/programs/journals/nena/nena-for-authors.shtml.
DOI
10.1656/045.032.0106
ISSN
1092-6194
1938-5307
Rights
The publisher, Eagle Hill Institute, reserves the copyright to all its publications. Any reproduction, other than for an individual's own personal and private use, or distribution of journal content is prohibited without written permission from Eagle Hill Institute.
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