Aquatic Plants and Animals

1
Aquatic Plants and Animals

• The homework assignment for September 25th for
  you to review the content on the websites listed
  on the following two slides. You will be
  responsible for visually identifying the specific
  organisms that I will ask during an in-class quiz
  on September 25th. I will use the LCD projector
  for the quiz.

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Aquatic Plants and Animals

• Please peruse the following web sites for an
  aquatic macrophyte module. Although the site
  discusses Florida macrophytes, many of the
  species are present in Virginia and up through
  New York.
• http//aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/aqumac.html
• http//aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/natplant.htmlnat
  sub
• The content (general terminology) of the module
  is testable material, but I will only ask you to
  identify the following species during the quiz
• coontail Ceratophyllum demersum
• sago pondweed Potamogeton pectinatus
• cattails Typha species
• small duckweed Lemna valdiviana
• water lily Nymphaea aquatica
• soft rush Juncus effusus

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Aquatic Plants and Animals

• You are responsible to review the following three
  websites. The first two are tutorials about
  using insects to monitor water quality and the
  types of critters you will need to identify.
  This will not be on the quiz, but you better know
  it by the time we are in the field!
• http//www.sosva.com/virtualsosdemonstration/genin
  fo.htm
• http//www.sosva.com/virtualsosdemonstration/macro
  _review.htm
• The final website contains pictures of aquatic
  macroinvertebrates. You will be quizzed on the
  identification of these insects on September
  25th. You are only responsible for the first
  three (3) pages of insects and the Order Diptera
  on the fifth (page 5) you need not worry about
  the others.
• http//www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dow/stream/orde
  rpageone.htm

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Sediment Communities
5
Aquatic Plants and Animals

• Bacteria
• Phytoplankton, including cyanobacteria
• Aquatic macrophytes
• Zooplankton
• Aquatic macroinvertebrates
• Fishes

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Bacteria

• Recall from high school three forms of bacteria
  cocci, spirillum, and rods (bacilli)

7
Sources of Bacteria in SW

• Not all bacteria are bad. In fact, you have more
  bacterial cells on and in your body than you do
  human cells. Bacterial contamination of surface
  waters can result from several sources. Human
  and animal wastes are a primary source of
  bacteria in water. These sources of bacterial
  contamination include runoff from feedlots,
  pastures, dog runs, and other land areas where
  animal wastes are deposited. Additional sources
  include seepage or discharge from
  poorly-maintained septic tanks and sewage
  treatment facilities. Bacteria from these
  sources can enter wells that are either open at
  the land surface, or do not have water-tight
  casings or caps, or do not have a grout seal in
  the annular space (the space between the wall of
  the drilled well and the outside of the well
  casing). Insects, rodents or animals entering
  the well are other sources of contamination.

8
Sources of Bacteria in SW

• Another way bacteria can enter a water supply is
  through inundation or infiltration by flood
  waters or by surface runoff. Flood waters
  commonly contain high levels of bacteria. Small
  depressions filled with flood water provide an
  excellent breeding ground for bacteria. Whenever
  a well is inundated by flood waters or surface
  runoff, bacterial contamination is likely.
  Shallow wells and wells that do not have
  water-tight casings can be contaminated by
  bacteria infiltrating with the water through the
  soil near the well, especially in coarse-textured
  soils.

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Sources of Bacteria in SW

• Older water systems, especially dug wells,
  spring-fed systems and cistern-type systems are
  most vulnerable to bacterial contamination. Any
  system with casings or caps that are not
  water-tight, or lacking a grout seal in the
  annular space, are vulnerable. This is
  particularly true if the well is located so
  surface runoff might be able to enter the well.
  During the last 10 to 15 years, well and water
  distribution system construction has improved to
  the point where bacterial contamination is rare
  in newer wells.

10
Indicators of Bacteria

• Bacterial contamination cannot be detected by
  sight, smell or taste. The only way to know if a
  water supply contains bacteria is to have it
  tested. The EPA requires that all public water
  suppliers regularly test for coliform bacteria
  and deliver water that meets the EPA standards.
  Frequency of testing depends on the size of the
  population served. Bacteria test results are
  available from the supplier and there must be a
  public notification if the water supply does not
  meet the standard. Owners of private water
  supplies are responsible to themselves for having
  their water supply tested to ensure it is safe
  from bacterial contamination. Generally, private
  water supplies (wells) should be tested for
  bacterial safety at least once a year.

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Potential Health Effects

• Coliform bacteria may not cause disease, but can
  be indicators of pathogenic organisms that cause
  diseases. The latter could cause intestinal
  infections, dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid fever,
  cholera and other illnesses. However, these
  illnesses are not limited to disease-causing
  organisms in drinking water. Other factors not
  associated with drinking water may be the cause.
• Intestinal infections and dysentery are generally
  considered minor health problems. They can,
  however, prove fatal to infants, the elderly, and
  those who are ill. Today typhoid, hepatitis and
  cholera are rarely encountered in the United
  States.
• Other bacteria also may be present in water. No
  specific sanitary significance or health
  standards have been indicated for non-pathogenic
  non-coliform bacteria.

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Coliform Bacteria
13
Testing for Bacteria

• Testing for all individual pathogens is
  impractical and expensive. Instead, the EPA has
  designated total coliform bacteria as a standard
  to determine bacterial safety of water. More
  recently, EPA has approved E. coli as a
  presumptive indicator of fecal contamination with
  this standard fully implemented by 2008. The
  Sweet Briar environmental laboratory is approved
  by the Commonwealth for this test. Fecal
  coliforms were previously used. Differences??
• The E. coli test is a membrane filtration test
  that filters the sample through a polymer
  membrane filter with 0.45 u pores in it. The
  bacteria in the sample are held on the filter
  while the water passes through. The membrane is
  then placed on a special media that allows E.
  coli and total coliforms to grow.

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Who Cares?

• The EPA establishes standards for drinking water
  that fall into the category of Primary Standards.
  Primary Standards are based on health
  considerations, and are designed to protect
  people from three classes of toxic pollutants
  pathogens, radioactive elements and toxic
  chemicals.
• Bacterial contamination falls under the category
  of pathogens. The EPA Maximum Contaminant Level
  (MCL) for coliform bacteria in drinking water is
  zero (or no) total coliform per 100 ml of water.
  Units are always xxx CFU / 100 mL !!! In
  Virginia, the surface water single sample E. coli
  criterion is 235 CFU/100 mL. The monthly
  geometric mean sample criterion is 126 CFU/mL.

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What is a geometric mean?

• The geometric mean of a sequence is defined by
• Thus,

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Bacteria in SW

• The number of coliform colonies found in the
  incubated water sample, if any, is reported. At
  times, excessive numbers of other bacteria in a
  sample can interfere with the counting of
  coliform types. These samples may be classified
  as "too numerous to count" or "confluent
  growth."
• If the laboratory report indicates the presence
  of coliforms, or states "too numerous to count,"
  or "confluent growth," the health department
  recommends another sample be analyzed to help
  evaluate the contamination.

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How to Test??
On the right is an incubated membrane filter with
colonies growing. Colonies appear as red (non-E.
coli coliforms) or blue (E. coli) The two
figures on the left show the placing of the
filter in a Petri dish after adding the special
media to a sterile pad. In the center, a
technician filters a sample.
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Life in First and Second Order Streams some
considerations

• In erosive upland streams the majority of
  organisms are found on hard surfaces including
  stones, cracks, crevices and pockets under or
  between rocks, and interstitial regions between
  gravel and sand grains. These habitats offer
  refuge from currents that could transport
  organisms downstream. Rock surfaces become
  covered with layers of bacteria, algae, protozoa
  and microscopic invertebrates like rotifers and
  nematodes. The thin film formed on rocks is made
  up of epilithic and endolithic rock dwelling
  species. The epilithic community is called
  periphyton or awfuchs. This slime also covers
  sand grains in sediments and forms very close to
  the rock surfaces where laminar flow is very slow
  (near zero) due to the viscosity of water (2-3
  millimeters above the rock surface flow velocity
  is 90 that of open channel flow rates).

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Life in First and Second Order Streams some
considerations

• Periphyton increases the roughness of the rock
  surface which further reduces the velocity of
  water flow. The periphyton community can be
  scoured off the exposed surfaces of rocks by
  suspended silt and sand during flood flows. The
  degree to which periphyton develops on rock
  surfaces is dependent on abiotic and biotic
  factors.

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Life in First and Second Order Streams some
considerations

• Abiotic factors include shading from the canopy
  of riparian forests or if in high-walled
  channels. Awfuchs is dominated by bacteria and
  fungi in shaded streams. Small, flattened
  (prostrate) plants can live on stone surfaces.
  Mosses, liverworts, and red macroalgae have
  strong basal attachments to the rock surfaces.
  Prostrate growth avoids dislodgement by currents
  often found in low-flow refugia, down-stream side
  of rocks, and margins of the stream channel.

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Life in First and Second Order Streams some
considerations

• Invertebrates can live on rock surfaces they
  are usually flattened and have strong attachment
  structures. Some snails have a large suctorial
  foot for attachment while others use the radula
  to scrape periphyton from the rocks. Many
  animals burrow into sediments accumulated between
  rocks and gravel. Aquatic oligochaete annelids,
  nematodes, small crustaceans, and other species
  of animals live under stones and boulders to
  avoid currents -- often most dense under the
  largest stones and boulders which are least
  likely to be disturbed during flood flows.

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Life in First and Second Order Streams some
considerations

• During periods of flood flows, stream bottoms are
  often greatly disturbed causing suspension and
  washout of many species, making erosive streams
  highly unstable environments, regulating the
  population densities of stream organisms so that
  they rarely achieve carrying capacity of the
  environment (K). This results in erosive stream
  communities being characterized by having lower
  diversity than low-flow or semi-stagnate aquatic
  habitats which are more stable.

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Adaptations of erosive stream organisms to high
flow rates

• Being sessile with strong attachment would seem
  to be the best adaptation to living in high-flow
  erosive stream habitats.
• Few erosive stream animals are sessile - most are
  motile.

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Adaptations of erosive stream organisms to high
flow rates

• Most stream-dwelling animal species are small and
  flattened allowing them to remain in the boundary
  layer on rocks where flow rates are minimized.
  At flows of lt 20 cm/sec in the boundary layer may
  extend up to 2-3 mm from the rock surface. At
  higher flow rates, it is lt 1 mm from the rock
  surface. Animals must be very small and/or
  flattened in order to utilize the boundary layer
  to avoid suspension in currents.

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Food and Energy Flow in Erosive Streams

• Most organic matter input into erosive streams is
  allochthonous
• Generated in riparian areas and transported into
  streams with runoff and leaf fall
• Leaf litter is the most important allochthonous
  component in most erosive streams
• Progressively broken into smaller particles by
  bacteria and detritivorous animals
• Algal production and macrophyte production in
  most erosive streams is minor compared to
  allochthonous inputs
• Streams are generally shaded and have low
  macronutrient inputs (phosphates, nitrates and
  sulfates)

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Definitions of Organic Matter

• Course particulate organic matter (CPOM) gt 1 mm
  in diameter
• Fine particulate organic matter (FPOM) 1 µm - 1
  mm in diameter
• Dissolved organic matter (DOM) any material
  passing a 1 µm mesh sieve (lt 1 µm in diameter),
  can include nanoplankton (bacteria and
  single-celled cyanobacteria are often less than 1
  µm in diameter)

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Organic Matter

• DOM enters streams at relatively constant rates
  while CPOM and FPOM enter streams in pulses
  during periods of flood flows, winter thaws and
  rainstorm runoffs this makes estimation of CPOM
  and FPOM inputs to streams difficult.

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The Microbial Loop
30
Phytoplankton little plants
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Bacteria

• Bacteria are an important component of the
  planktonic community in lakes
• Are the major component of the plankton in most
  rivers
• The majority of the bacterioplankton are
  heterotrophic and consume organic material
  produced by the photosynthesis of the
  phytoplankton or organic matter. This includes
  cell or body detritus, and secreted/excreted
  substances.
• Bacteria may secondarily fix more carbon than
  algal net primary productivity
• Bacterioplankton are suspended in the water
  column as single cells or small colonies of cells
• Many filtering species are specialized to
  consume bacterioplankton, particularly true of
  riverine species where bacteria dominate plankton
  communities
• Most riverine unionid mussels, zebra mussels
  and Asian clams are specialized to filter
  bacteria (lt1µm) as well as algae on their gills
• Most lentic unionid mussels are specialized to
  filter algae (gt3 µm) and do not filter bacteria

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Cyanobacteria blue-green algae

• Cyanobacteria can develop dense surface
  aggregations called blooms.
• They have gas-filled vesicles in their cytoplasm
  which make them buoyant these gas vesicles can
  make up 30 of cell volume which allows them to
  float towards the surface to maximize exposure to
  sunlight.
• In high light intensities, increased
  photosynthesis increases the concentration of
  organic nutrients (sugars, amino acids) dissolved
  in their cytoplasm.
• A cycle of vertical migration in the water column
  appears to keep Cyanobacteria cells within a
  range of depth in which they can maximize
  photosynthetic rates.
• Summer increases in cyanobacteria density appear
  to be linked to their ability to access nutrients
  stored in the hypolimnion.
• During their sinking phase they pass through the
  thermocline into the hypolimnion where they take
  up and store P and N nutrients which they use to
  support photosynthesis and growth as they rise
  once again into the euphotic zone.

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• The ability to cyclically migrate between the
  nutrient-poor epilimnion and nutrient-rich
  hypolimnion may allow Cyanobacteria to sustain
  growth in midsummer in nutrient poor epilimnetic
  waters where lack of nutrients causes eukaryotic
  algal populations to crash.
• In eutrophic conditions high algal densities
  greatly reduce the depth of the euphotic zone.

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The Algae

• Please peruse the following web site. Ensure
  your computer allows pop-ups to run. The
  contents are testable material
  http//www.botany.uwc.ac.za/presents/algae1/algaeb
  ase.html

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The Algae
36
Aquatic Macrophytes

• Major Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts) and
  tracheophytes (plants with vessels)
• Types of aquatic macrophytes based upon where
  they grow emergent, semi-emergent, and
  submergent
• Issues often can become a nuisance in lakes b/o
  excessive growth

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Zooplankton

• Ciliate and flagellate protozoa may phagocytize
  bacteria and smaller phytoplankton cells
• Protozoa are of a size more readily preyed upon
  by zooplankton which can lead to rapid recycling
  of nutrients held in the nanoplankton community
• In oligotrophic lakes densities of
  bacterioplankton and protozoa are more dependent
  on periods of high rainfall carrying increased
  loads of organic matter from their catchments
  into the lake
• The true zooplankton are the multicellular
  eukaryotic animal plankton, primarily made up of
  members of the phylum, Rotifera (rotifers) and
  the arthropod subphylum, Crustacea (Cladocerans)

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Rotifers

• Are among the smallest of all eukaryotic animals
• Have a corona or velum around the mouth fringed
  with cilia, called a wheel organ
• Beat of cilia on the corona used in swimming and
  to drive bacteria and small algae into the mouth
  for ingestion
• Consume particles 1-20 µm long
• Some species prey on small zooplankton

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Crustaceans

• Class Branchiopoda, Subclass Cladocera
• Cephalothoracic carapace is bivalved and encloses
  the body dorsally hinged
• Feeding guilds include Filter feeding
  phytoplanktonic herbivores - Daphnia and Bosmina
  have filter feeding setae (i.e., hairs) on their
  thoracic limbs (see photo) that strain
  phytoplankton and microdetritus from water
  current maintained through setae by the water of
  on the other three pair of thoracic limbs.
  Particles are scraped off limb setae into the
  mouth. Claw on the posterior end of the abdomen
  can be used to remove particles from the midline
  of the thorax by anteriorventral flexing of the
  abdomen between the thoracic limbs.
• Swim through water by the rowing action of their
  enlarged and elongated second antennae

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Daphnia
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Copepods

• Similar in size to or larger than cladocerans
• No cephalothoracic carapace
• Have lost the compound eyes, retaining only the
  single, central nonimage forming ocellus of the
  nauplius larva
• Main genus in freshwater is Cyclops (see Photo)
• Can be herbivorous or carnivorous
• Size of food ranges from 5-100 µm
• Some species utilize both modes of feeding
• Capture phytoplankton or zooplankton with two
  pair of maxilliae and pair of maxilliped limbs
  associated with the mouth parts
• Limbs hold captured food particles to the
  mandibles for maceration and ingestion

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Zooplankton Reproduction

• Parthenogenic tic reproductive cycles
• Females produce diploid (2n) eggs through a
  modified form of meiosis in which there is no
  reduction division
• Eggs are retained in brood sacs within the body
  of rotifers and in the carapace of cladocerans
  eggs hatch into young females without being
  fertilized by males
• Juveniles are genetic clones of the parent and
  hatch as miniature adults
• Rotifers and cladocerans are parthenogenic for
  part of their life cycle this allows rapid
  expansion of population size during periods when
  food is plentiful or in response to heavy
  predation pressures b/o rapid generation times
• Rotifers reproduce every few days producing up to
  25 young in a lifetime of 7-21 days
• Cladocerans reproduce every 7-28 days producing
  up to 700 young in a life time of up to 84 days

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When conditions are not favorable, sexual
reproduction can occur. The males only serve to
fertilize the eggs males are nonfeeding and
short-lived. Eggs can persist until
environmental conditions improve.
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Tartigrades water bears
Above a mature water bear w/ algae in the gut.
Actual size can range up to 1 mm. Left the
small claws of a baby water bear in the gut of a
larger water bear.
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Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

• We are most interested in the larvae after
  adults have emerged they reproduce and often have
  a short life span
• The adults and larvae are shown in Pond Life

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Aquatic Macroinvertebratesmajor taxonomic groups

• Ephemeroptera Mayflies
• Plecoptera Stoneflies
• Trichoptera Caddisfly
• Diptera True flies, e.g., housefly
• Coleoptera Beetles
• Hemiptera True bugs, incl. water striders
• Megaloptera Dobsonflies, hellgrammite (some
  olders texts use Neuroptera)
• Odonata dragonflies and damselflies

EPT
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Aquatic Macroinvertebratesmajor feeding groups

• Predators feeding on other organisms
• ambush
• attack
• Shredders consuming large particulates in water
  creation of smaller particulates and release of
  nutrients
• Piercing mouthparts used to consume juice of
  plants and animals
• Filtering processing of volumes of water and
  filtering out food
• Collecting active collection of food
  particulates from water column
• Grazing consumption of periphyton
• Scraping collection of periphyton, detritus and
  bacteria on surface of rocks and other surfaces
• Detritivores consumption of detritus

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How do feeding guilds fit together?
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Why are aquatic macroinvertebrates important??

• Integrators of the aquatic environment
• They are alive and incorporate all aspects of the
  environment
• Water chemistry only gives snapshots of
  conditions
• EPT
• Most sensitive groups of invertebrates
• Stoneflies as a group most sensitive followed by
  caddisflies and then mayflies
• Calculations that we will learn later in the term
  based on abundance of EPT
• Calculations based on diversity indices
• Highlights abundance of organisms

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EPT
usually two tails
Ephemeroptera Mayflies - gt 500 species
Plecoptera Stoneflies
usually, three tails
Trichoptera Caddisflies
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The FishesIntroduction

• Fish communities in freshwater are often very
  diverse
• Wide range of feeding niches - planktivores,
  herbivores, detritivores, carnivores feeding
  niches may be specialized
• Some species specialize on the eggs of other
  fishes while some species eat only specific types
  of insects
• Wide range of adult sizes lt12 mm to gt5 m
• Fish feeding niches are closely related to adult
  size
• Feeding niches change with change in size during
  development from larva to juvenile to adult
  within a species of fish
• Larval fish are nourished by their yolk sac for a
  short time after hatching then feed on algae and
  rotifers as larval fish later move to larger
  zooplankton prey (Cladocera, clumps of
  filamentous algae)
• In second year of growth, juveniles are large
  enough to consume insect larvae and adults,
  molluscs, filamentous algae, macrophytes, and
  smaller fish

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The Fishes

• Habitat also changes with development larval
  and small fish seek cover of submerged or
  emergent macrophyte stands, filamentous algae,
  around bases of rocks, in crevices, in
  accumulated branches and leaves on the sediment
  surface or other organic matter in shallow water
  of the littoral zone
• These are areas where adult predatory fish cannot
  readily penetrate
• As they increase in size and become faster and
  better able to avoid predators, juvenile fish
  begin migrate into open water adult habitats
• Adults feed on the edges of macrophyte beds or on
  the bottom where larval fish and small adult fish
  species are concentrated
• Rarely find small fish species in open water as
  they are almost immediately preyed upon by larger
  fish!
• Adults of different fish species may be
  specialized to feed in different portions of the
  lake (littoral versus pelagial zone), at
  different depths (surface, midwater, benthic) or
  in different habitats (open water versus
  macrophyte beds)
• Adult fish avoid areas where there is intensive
  fish predation from fish, wading or diving birds
  or reptiles (snakes, turtles, crocodilians)

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The FishesIntroduction

• Greatest diversity of fishes occurs in tropical
  fresh waters
• Tropical lakes and rivers have been in existence
  for millions of years and are generally stable,
  allowing diversity and niche specialization to
  evolve within fish communities. They are
  characterized by many species with specialized
  feeding niches
• Temperate lakes and rivers have been in existence
  for relatively short periods of 10,000-20,000
  years since the last glacial period this time
  of existence has been too short to allow
  extensive re-colonization by more southern fish
  species
• Time of existence has been too short to allow
  evolution of extensive species diversity and
  feeding niches in the fish community
• Characterized by lower numbers of species with
  most species having relatively generalized
  feeding niches

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Fish Predation on Zooplankton

• Almost all fish feed on zooplankton for at least
  a portion of their life cycle, immediately after
  consumption of the larval yolk-sac
• Some over a years period as juveniles
• Some fish over the entire life span
• Species that remain small as adults are often
  filter-feeding fish (i.e., shad)
• Because fish are usually dependent on zooplankton
  for a small portion of their life cycle there is
  rarely a strong correlation between zooplankton
  productivity and fish production

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Fish Predation on Fish

• Zooplanktivorous fish are, in turn, preyed upon
  by piscivorous fish (i.e., fish predators on
  other fish) and other piscivores such as turtles,
  water snakes, crocdilians, wading birds, diving
  birds, otters)
• Such down-regulative predation regulates the size
  of planktivorous fish populations and the feeding
  pressure they place on zooplankton populations.
  This predation can greatly reduce the density of
  small fish species populations.
• Predation pressures by piscivorous fish force
  small fish species to take refuge in submerged
  and emerged plant beds or in littoral regions
  with many branches and other submerged protective
  structures on the substratum.
• In a Swedish lake 33 of fish predation was by
  mergansers (Diving ducks) and 64 by piscivorous
  fish.
• Submerged vegetation may favor piscivory by
  sit-and-wait (ambush) predators such as pike
  while open water habitats may favor actively
  hunting species like pike perch (Waleyed pike)
  and lake trout.

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Common fishes of Va
Carp, paint this one gold and you have a goldfish!
Golden shiner, more commonly known as a minnow.
Longnose dace, smaller ( 2 to 3) and found
in SBC streams.
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Fish Issues

• Sudden changes in temperature, DO
• Dams, impoundments
• Pollution acute and chronic
• Habitat fragmentation and destruction loss of
  riparian cover and buffers

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Other SBC Lake Life
Painted turtle
Snapping turtle
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Orvos readings for Test 2

• Pond Life
• Pages 22-30, 74-80, 86, 90-112 (you do not have
  to know scientific/common names unless they occur
  on a PP slide) , 121
• Pond and Brook
• Pages 59-66, 170 (A leaf falls), 170-174
• Clean Water
• Reread pages 42-43, read 126-127