Browsing by Subject "common carp"

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    Data for A small native predator reduces reproductive success of a large invasive fish as revealed by whole-lake experiments
    (2022-01-10) Poole, Joshua R; Bajer, Przemyslaw G; bajer003@umn.edu; Bajer, Przemyslaw; University of Minnesota, MAISRC
    The extent to which native fish communities might control the success of invasive fish has been of interest to ecologists, but it has been rarely addressed using experiments. We conducted an experiment in six small lakes in the Upper Mississippi Region to test the effects of a small native predator, bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) on the recruitment of a large, invasive fish, the common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Bluegills are predominant throughout the region and were previously shown to consume carp eggs and larvae. We stocked both lakes at each of our 3 sites with adult carp (spawners) and one lake at each site with bluegills. We repeated the experiment at two of the three sites for two consecutive years. In each lake we assessed the abundance of post-larval carp one month after spawning (backpack electrofishing surveys) and at the end of the season (mark-recapture). For each site/year combination, catch rate of post-larval carp was typically an order of magnitude higher in control than bluegill lakes, but it often declined quickly over time. The abundance of end-of-seasonal juveniles was significantly higher (no 95% CI overlap) in control lakes than in bluegill lakes, except for one pair of lakes during one year when both the control and bluegill lake had similar, low abundance of end-of-season carp. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that common carp recruitment is substantially reduced in habitats dominated by bluegills. We also suggest our results may be applicable to other species, and that managers should explore how predation on early life stages may control other invasive species.
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    Evaluating the ability of microsatellite DNA markers and otolith microchemistry to distinguish spatially separated populations and identify recruitment sites of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in interconnected lake systems of the North American Midwest
    (2017-10) Swanson, Reid
    The common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is an invasive fish whose populations have grown to ecologically damaging levels in the North American Midwest and many areas throughout the world. Recent research has shown that abundance of this species in areas of the North American Midwest is driven by its propensity to use shallow basins as productive nursery habitats. The ability of managers to discriminate which shallow basins are producing carp across a large sub-watershed of interconnected lakes has the potential to increase the efficacy of management practices which are aimed at the disruption of successful recruitment (i.e. surviving to join adult population). This study assessed whether carp nurseries could be distinguished based on differences in 12 microsatellite DNA markers in carp across the twin cities metropolitan area (n=1023) and the concentrations of 11 trace elements measured in carp otoliths collected in the Six-Mile Creek sub-watershed, Minnesota, USA (n=157). I found that genetic assessment could separate carp populations at a regional scale, but not between individual putative nurseries. Microchemical otolith analysis revealed that it is feasible to classify carp to their capture locations, discriminate between nursery and non-nursery habitat types, and distinguish juvenile carp from individual nursery sites. Elemental signatures of otoliths were obtained from laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Ratios of aluminum (Al), barium (Ba), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), potassium (K), lithium (Li), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), and strontium (Sr) to calcium (Ca) in otolith edges differed significantly among carp from all eight capture sites in a 70 km2 watershed. Ratios of Ba, Fe, Li, manganese (Mn), and P to Ca differed significantly among juvenile carp from three nursery basins. Ratios of Al, Ba, Cu, Fe, Li, K, Na, P, and Sr to Ca were significantly different between nursery and non-nursery habitat types. Quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) could accurately classify otoliths to collection site (total accuracy 54%). QDA had increased accuracy when restricted to juvenile carp (76%) and classifying carp to nursery and non-nursery habitat types (87%) in contrast to individual sites. Further evaluation of differences between elemental signatures of the core and edge region (i.e. recent and natal signatures) and water samples from multiple years suggests that elemental parameters in otoliths and water are changing across time preventing identification of past recruitment sources. Identification of past natal origins of carp in these systems using otolith microchemistry will require obtaining continuous signatures across larger spatial and temporal scales.
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    Raw Data from Silver, Bighead, and Common Carp Acoustic Avoidance tests, December 2013 - February 2014
    (2017-02-16) Sorensen, Peter W; Zielinski, Daniel P; dzielinski@usgs.gov; Zielinski, Daniel P
    Raw data of fish position and sound measurements from acoustic avoidance tests with silver, bighead, and common carp. The data is made available to support a open access publication submitted to PLOSONE entitled "Silver, bighead, and common carp orient to acoustic particle motion when avoiding a complex sound."