A Look Into the Dietary Analysis of the Invasive Mysid of Lake Michigan, Hemimysis anomala
Mentor 1
Dr. John Berges
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
29-4-2016 1:30 PM
End Date
29-4-2016 3:30 PM
Description
H. anomala is a mysid invader from the Baltic and Caspian seas that has recently been found in Lake Michigan. Relatively nothing is known about their diet and how this may be affecting the lake ecosystem, which is my main point of study. I captured wild H. anomala in Lake Michigan and created a standard for empty guts, later analyzing wild gut contents for various types of native and invasive plankton and zooplankton that I believed they could have been consuming. I was able to identify several types of both native and invasive species of plankton and zooplankton that H. anomala was eating. H. anomala was found to be eating a large number of other invasives, which was a new finding. Additionally, they were found with large numbers of cladocerans within their guts, and I believe this is contributing to the food shortage for larger zooplankton within the lake. I was able to determine that H. anomala is eating both invasive and native plankton and zooplankton within Lake Michigan, which is a new finding for this mysid within Lake Michigan. They were found to be eating other invasives, which is good for the lake, but additionally, eating cladocerans, which many other zooplankton depend on for food. This could disrupt the food web in Lake Michigan, which has already been severely altered by the invasion of zebra and quagga mussles from the Baltic and Caspian seas.
A Look Into the Dietary Analysis of the Invasive Mysid of Lake Michigan, Hemimysis anomala
Union Wisconsin Room
H. anomala is a mysid invader from the Baltic and Caspian seas that has recently been found in Lake Michigan. Relatively nothing is known about their diet and how this may be affecting the lake ecosystem, which is my main point of study. I captured wild H. anomala in Lake Michigan and created a standard for empty guts, later analyzing wild gut contents for various types of native and invasive plankton and zooplankton that I believed they could have been consuming. I was able to identify several types of both native and invasive species of plankton and zooplankton that H. anomala was eating. H. anomala was found to be eating a large number of other invasives, which was a new finding. Additionally, they were found with large numbers of cladocerans within their guts, and I believe this is contributing to the food shortage for larger zooplankton within the lake. I was able to determine that H. anomala is eating both invasive and native plankton and zooplankton within Lake Michigan, which is a new finding for this mysid within Lake Michigan. They were found to be eating other invasives, which is good for the lake, but additionally, eating cladocerans, which many other zooplankton depend on for food. This could disrupt the food web in Lake Michigan, which has already been severely altered by the invasion of zebra and quagga mussles from the Baltic and Caspian seas.
