Interactions among Fertile Male, Female, and Sterile Male Sea Lampreys during Spawning in the Carp River, Lake Superior

Abstract

Spawning interactions among fertile male, female, and sterilized male sea lampreys Petromyzon marinus were examined by placing externally attached radiotransmitters on 4% (52 animals) of the population of sea lampreys that was introduced above a barrier to their passage in the Carp River, which flows into Lake Superior, during 1996 and 1997. Movements and interactions on nests made by sea lampreys were monitored using portable receivers for up to 20 d from the start of nest construction. Four times as many nests from the same number of introduced animals were found in 1996 than in 1997. Two sea lampreys with radio transmitters emigrated from the stream in 1996, and 13 animals emigrated or were missing from the stream in 1997 when a freshet occurred just before spawning. Only three male sea lampreys with transmitters were observed spawning, and these males visited more than one nest. We continuously checked four or more nests each year and observed that each nest was built, altered, or destroyed several times by sea lampreys. We suggest that fertile and sterile male sea lampreys have low fidelity to a nest or to a female and that a nest may contain reproductive products from different parents.

Effects of surgically implanted transmitters on anguilliform fishes: lessons from lamprey

“…Surgically implanted transmitters weighing <2% of fish body mass rarely affect fish, and even tags >10% of fish body mass can be used without affecting behaviour or performance of some species (Brown et al , 1999; Jepsen et al , 2005). Moreover, large, externally attached transmitters apparently have had little effect on eels and lamprey (Parker & McCleave, 1997; Aoyama et al , 1999; Kelso et al , 2001; Almeida et al , 2002). This further supports the notion that when transmitters are surgically implanted in anguilliforms, the effect of tag volume is more important than that of mass.…”

“…Studies of anguillid movements in estuaries and oceans have relied primarily on external attachment of transmitters or gastric implants (Stasko & Rommel, 1974;Tesch, 1978;Helfman et al, 1983;Parker & McCleave, 1997;Aoyama et al, 1999;Jellyman & Tsukamoto, 2002), while surgical implantation has been used for anguillids in fresh water (LaBar et al, 1987;Baras & Jeandrain, 1998;Lamothe et al, 2000;Jellyman & Sykes, 2003). Telemetry studies of sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus L. movements have typically relied on external transmitter attachment (Stier & Kynard, 1986;Kelso et al, 2001;Almeida et al, 2002), and externally attached transmitters have also been used on Geotria australis Gray . With the recent advances in tag miniaturization, however, surgically implanted transmitters are increasingly being used to track lamprey movements (Quintella et al, 2004;Almeida et al, 2005;Robinson & Bayer, 2005).…”

The future of barriers and trapping methods in the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control program in the Laurentian Great Lakes

“…Improving encounter rates may result from a better understanding of how sea lamprey navigate river channels and complex flows to optimize trap design and placement. Extensive work has been conducted describing habitat preference, upstream movement, and migration routes across numerous tributaries to the Great Lakes (USFWS Annual Reports 1981, 1982Kelso and Gardner 2000;Kelso et al 2001;SLCC Annual Reports 1998, 2003Holbrook et al 2015Holbrook et al , 2016), yet little description is available for fine-scale navigation and response to complex flows often encountered at trapping and fish passage structures. Rates of entrance and retention can be highly variable among trapping sites due to environmental conditions (Dawson et al 2015;Bravener and McLaughlin 2013).…”

Fish movement and migration studies in the Laurentian Great Lakes: Research trends and knowledge gaps

“…), lake trout Kelso and Gardner, 2000 Habitat use, reproductive biology, invasive species Lake Superior Radio telemetry Sea lamprey Kelso, 1976 Environmental relations and disturbance Lake Erie Acoustic telemetry Yellow perch, white sucker (Catostomus comersoni) Kelso, 1974 Environmental relations and disturbance Lake Ontario Acoustic telemetry Brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) Kelso and Kwain, 1984 Reproductive biology Lake Superior Acoustic telemetry Rainbow trout Kelso et al, 2001 Invasive species Carp River, Ontario; Lake Superior Radio telemetry Sea lamprey Kelso and Noltie, 1990 Invasive species, barriers and fish passage Carp River and Pancake River, Ontario Mark-recapture Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), coho salmon, Chinook salmon Kennedy et al, 2005 Reproductive biology St. Marys River, Michigan Gill net Pink Salmon Klingler et al, 2003 Reproductive biology Lake Superior tributaries Trap Rainbow trout, longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus), white sucker, rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) Kocik and Taylor, 1987 Diet and trophic niche Lake Huron Angling Pink salmon Kusnierz et al, 2009 Reproductive Newman et al, 1999 Habitat use Lake Superior Radio telemetry Brook trout Noltie, 1990 Reproductive biology, environmental relations and disturbance Carp River, Ontario; Lake Superior Mark-recapture Pink salmon Porto et al, 1999 Invasive species, barriers and fish passage Lake Ontario Mark-recapture Various (n = 42) Pratt et al, 2009 Barriers and fish passage Big Carp River, Ontario PIT tags Rainbow trout, white sucker, rock bass Pycha and King, 1967 Stocking Lake Superior Mark-recapture Lake trout Pycha et al, 1965 Stocking Lake Superior Mark-recapture Lake trout (continued on next page) 369 Rahrer, 1968 Reproductive biology Lake Superior Mark-recapture Lake trout Ray and Corkum, 2001 Invasive species, habitat use Lake Erie Mark-recapture Round goby Romberg et al, 1974 Environmental relations and disturbance Lake Huron, Lake Michigan Mark-recapture Brown trout, rainbow trout, lake trout, brook trout, chinook salmon coho salmon, common carp Rybicki and Keller, 1978 Reproductive biology Lake Michigan Mark-recapture Lake trout Savitz and Treat, 2007 Reproductive biology Lake Michigan Radio telemetry Smallmouth bass, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) Schmalz et al, 2002 Stocking Lake Michigan Mark-recapture Lake trout Schreer and Cooke, 2002 Environmental relations and ...…”

“…To date, Sea Lamprey research includes detailing the migrations of parasitic phase Sea Lamprey (Moore et al, 1974;Smith and Elliott, 1953;Bergstedt and Seelye 1995;Kelso and Gardner, 2000), the effects of barriers to lamprey movement (Porto et al, 1999), spawning interactions (Kelso et al, 2001), estimates of abundance (Bergstedt et al, 2003), and migration physiology (Binder and McDonald, 2007). For example, Kelso et al (2001) attached radio-transmitters externally to sterilized and fertile male Sea Lampreys to demonstrate interactions between individuals, competitiveness, and spawning activity for both types of male. Their data suggested that sterile males did not exhibit suppressed reproductive behaviors and that sterilization may be a worthwhile control method.…”