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105 Fishes and Decapod Crustaceans of the Great Lakes Basin Brian M. Roth, Nicholas E. Mandrak, Thomas R. Hrabik, Greg G. Sass, and Jody Peters The primary goal of the first edition of this chapter (Coon 1994) was to provide an overview of the Laurentian Great Lakes fish community and its origins. For this edition, we have taken a slightly different approach.AlthoughwehaveupdatedthechecklistoffishesineachoftheGreatLakesandtheirwatersheds, we also include a checklist of decapod crustaceans. Our decision to include decapods derives from the lack of such a list for the Great Lakes in the literature and the importance of decapods (in particular, crayfishes) for the ecology and biodiversity of streams and lakes in the Great Lakes region (Lodge et al. 1985, 2000; Perry et al. 1997). This most recent checklist of fish species in the Great Lakes follows similar efforts by Christie (1974), Bailey and Smith (1981), Underhill (1986), Coon (1994), and Cudmore-Vokey and Crossman (2000). PeriodicupdatesarenecessarytocatalogchangesinspeciescompositionanddistributionwithintheGreat Lakes watershed. We have made a substantial effort to verify presence and have included records of new introductions and their outcome. Sources include the primary literature, agency reports, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and Department of Natural Resources agents in various states. We place particular emphasis on the coregonines of the Great Lakes. This group of fishes is beset with controversy, including discussions of the legitimacy of their current taxonomy. We also discuss the importance of coregonines to the commercial fishery of the Great Lakes and their current role in the ecosystem. The recent origins of the Great Lakes and their biotic community define the system as dynamic. We brieflyreviewthezoogeographicoriginsofthefishanddecapodcommunitiesandusetheseoriginstofocus on the current communities. Lastly, we discuss future prospects for the Great Lakes fish community and howcurrentandemergingstressorsontheGreatLakescouldinfluencethefishanddecapodcommunities. Definitions of the Great Lakes and their Boundaries This chapter focuses on the fishes and decapods of the five Laurentian Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) and their watersheds. We follow the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) definitions for watershed boundaries. The Lake Superior watershed is bounded upstream by the Lake Brian M. Roth et al. 106 NipigondrainagetotheeasternendofOgokiLake.LakeSuperiorisboundeddownstreambytheSooLocks on the St. Marys River. The Soo Locks and the Straits of Mackinac from Lake Michigan form the upstream termini of Lake Huron, whose downstream terminus is the origin of the St. Clair River. Lake Michigan’s downstreamterminiaretheChicagoSanitaryandShipCanal(LakeMichigan)northeastoftheDesPlaines/ Kankakee River confluence near Romeoville, Illinois, and the Mackinac Straits leading to Lake Huron. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC), completed in 1900, was used to export wastewater from Chicago and to breach the watershed divide between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River. The “boundary” between the two basins is now better defined by the system of electrical barriers at the southern end of the CSSC, rather than any geological division. Lake Erie includes the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River. The division between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario is Niagara Falls. Most of the Welland Canal, which connects Lakes Erie and Ontario, is considered part of Lake Ontario. The downstream terminus of Lake Ontario includes the St. Lawrence River east to Cornwall, Ontario. Although Lakes Ontario and Huron are connected by the Trent-Severn Waterway, the GLFC considers the Lake Ontario watershed to begin immediately to the east of Lake Simcoe with waters to the northwest, including Lake Simcoe, belonging to the Lake Huron watershed. Zoogeographic Origins of Great Lakes Fish and Decapod Communities The fishes and decapods present in the Great Lakes and their drainages represent communities organized within the last ten thousand years or so. The Great Lakes themselves were formed during the retreat of the Wisconsinan glacial period ca. 14,000–9,000 years before present (BP), with the faunal communities originating from populations that survived the Wisconsinan glacial period in refugia to the northwest (Beringia), south (Mississippi), southwest (Missouri), and east (Atlantic Coast; Bailey and Smith 1981; Mandrak and Crossman 1992; Underhill 1986). In particular, much of the Great Lakes fish community is thought to have originated in the Mississippi refugium and dispersed through various outlets of the proglacial Michigan and Erie basins that overflowed into the Mississippi basin. Bailey and Smith (1981) indicated that 134 of the 174 (77 percent) fish species extant in the Great Lakes at the time of their study derived from the Mississippi refugium. Fewer fish species colonized the Great Lakes from the east through the Atlantic Coastal refugium. At least eleven fish species currently in the Great Lakes likely derived from populations that existed only in the Atlantic Coastal refugium...

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