AUTHORS: Mallory R. Wagner, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University; Kathryn E. Buckles, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University; Les D. Warren, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University; Dominique D. Turney, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University & Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant; Tomas O. Hӧӧk, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University & Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant
ABSTRACT: Early-life stages of fish development is a sensitive and critical time that has the ability to influence later recruitment success. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) are an economically and ecologically important species within Lake Michigan. Yellow perch have been observed to spawn within multiple habitats including tributary river mouths, drowned river mouth lakes, and the nearshore environment of Lake Michigan. These habitats have different environmental characteristics that could affect growth rates and the diet of larval yellow perch. Drowned-river mouth lakes are more productive, warmer, and have a higher abundance of zooplankton compared to the nearshore waters of Lake Michigan. This study aims to quantify growth rates of larval yellow perch in Lake Michigan and connected tributary habitats. During the summers of 2021 and 2022, larval yellow perch were collected from early May to the end of June. Individuals collected were later processed in the lab to obtain total length and the extraction of the sagittal otoliths to calculate growth rates of larval yellow perch from each habitat. This study aims to quantify how environmental changes in early-life habitats affect growth rates of fish. This information can be implicated in sustainable fisheries management and assist in the assessment of ecological changes.
