Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ohio


Dragonfly at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area.

Dragonfly at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area.

The Triplehorn Insect Collection is beginning a collaborative project to survey the dragonflies and damselflies of Ohio.

These spectacular aerial predators are surprisingly diverse: currently 164 species have been recorded in the state. Brilliant colors and striking markings make them the songbirds of the insect world. The immature stages of all species are aquatic, and these animals are found in lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.  Although many dragonflies and damselflies are common, a number are listed as threatened or endangered.

This new Ohio Odonata Survey is scheduled to last 3 years. The work will be done together with the ODNR Division of Wildlife, the Ohio Odonata Society, and a network of avid volunteers and citizen scientists across the state.

MaLisa Spring, an Entomologist and recent OSU graduate, just joined us as coordinator for all of these efforts.  She will be working out of the Triplehorn Insect Collection in Columbus, and will be actively interacting with participants around the state.

Information on the project can be found in the newly created Ohio Odonata Survey website.  Project activities will also be widely advertised on social media.

Ohio naturalists are invited to contribute to the project. If you have images that can help document the distribution and seasonality of the various species of dragonflies and damselflies in our state, please check out the guidelines.

Finally, the Ohio Odonata Society will be holding its 2017 annual meeting, ODO-CON-17 on 23-25 June at the Grand River Conservation Campus in Rock Creek, OH.

Resources:

Photos by L. Musetti (dragonflies) & Huayan Chen (damselfly).

About the Author: Dr. Norman F. Johnson is an Entomologist, Professor at Ohio State University, and Director of the Triplehorn Insect Collection.

More than just a pretty (fish) face – Do you recognize some of these small fish from your aquarium?

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, species in the genus Anableps post the largest size (at just about a foot long) in an order of rather small fishes, the Cyprinodontiformes. Don’t let their small size fool you, it does not reflect their importance in several areas. Many are quite easy to raise, and some are cultivated for beautiful colors, particularly in their fins. Unfortunately, being popular fishes in aquaria frequently results in introductions to non-native areas from aquarium owners. In several instances exotic populations have become established. Here are some of the more enigmatic species that the OSUM Fish Division has vouchers for, arranged by family:

CYPRINODONTIDAE

Sheepshead Minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus, occur along the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts south to northern South America.  Abundant and easily cultured for the aquarium trade, also used as bait.  One introduced specimen was actually caught (back in the 1950’s) next to the Olentangy Indian Caverns in a small stream tributary to the Olentangy River.

Flagfish, Jordanella floridae, are common in the St. John’s and Ocklocknee Rivers to southern Florida. This species is listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the fish with the fewest eggs, laying only 20 over several days.

FUNDULIDAE

Members of this family are distributed across North and Central America including some of the Caribbean islands, in coastal and interior low gradient, slow moving rivers, streams, and swamps.

Male Northern Studfish; note the twisted maxilla (posterior portion of the upper jaw bone) that is characteristic of the Fundulidae, photo by Uland Thomas

Northern StudfishFundulus catenatus. Although reputed to be difficult to keep it is popular in the aquarium trade because of the male’s vibrant breeding coloration. This species is native in disjunct populations in several states along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, but has recently been introduced and established in small to medium streams in Ohio and West Virginia.

OSUM 104822 Fundulus catenatus

OSUM 104822 is the voucher for the first specimen found on the eastern side of Ohio, in little Pipe Creek, across the Ohio River from Graves Creek in West Virginia, where there is a well established and thriving population that is believed to have been intentionally introduced.

Golden Topminnow, Fundulus chrysotus.  Common in Florida, but can be found in low lying swamps and backwaters from North Carolina along the Atlantic seaboard and around the Gulf of Mexico to eastern Texas.

 

Female Mummichog, photo by Dave Neely

The MummichogFundulus heteroclitus, frequently spawns inside mussel shells, a life history attribute that is hypothesized to be facilitated by a very long urogenital sheath.

The Diamond Killifish, Fundulus xenicus, inhabits marine, freshwater and brackish waters of the Gulf of Mexico shoreline from Florida to Mexico.

Bluefin Killifish, photo by Julie Zimmerman

Bluefin Killifish, Lucania goodei

Male Rainwater Killifish, photo by Brian Zimmerman

Rainwater Killifish, Lucania parva

GOODEIDAE

This family contains many species that are critically endangered in Mexico and Central America, due to their endemism to restricted bodies of water that are denigrated by anthropological modifications.

Tuxpan SplitfinAlldontichthys tamazulae, is endemic to the Rio Tuxpan in the State of Jalisco, Mexico.

Butterfly SplitfinAmeca splendens, is endemic to the State of Jalisco, Mexico, raised and sold commercially to the aquarium trade.

Redtail Splitfin, Xenotoca eiseni, are listed as endangered and declining.  The species was split as recently as 2016 to add two new species from the original distributions, where the critically endangered X. lyonsi is found in the Tuxpan and Tamazula Rivers and the critically endangered X. doadrioi in the “endorheic region of Metzatlan in the state of Jalisco, Mexico”.

POECILIIDAE

Possibly due to the ease of breeding, this family contains many popular aquarium species like guppies and swordtails.  One species, Poeciliopsis latidens, lives in marine waters, although several others are secondary freshwater species.

Sailfin MollyPoecilia latipinna, is native to coastal lowlands from North Carolina to Vera Cruz, Mexico, but has been introduced to many countries with “adverse ecological impacts” reported.

Variable Platy, Xiphophorus varietus, is endemic to Mexico but is another popular aquarium fish that has been carelessly introduced with resultant harmful ecological impacts (for this species the impacts are primarily competition with native fishes for resources).  These and several other species in the genus Xiphophorus are listed as exotic pests by governmental agencies.

The fact that many cyprinodontiforms (and cichlids) are tolerant to higher salinities as opposed to the primarily freshwater orders of fishes has made them the subject of biogeographical studies particularly for dispersal from one stream to another along coastal areas.  It is hypothesized that their adaptability to variable habitat conditions facilitated their invasion and predominance of the Central American fish fauna as they made their way across the narrow, open waters from South America to Central America before the rise of the Panamanian isthmus.  This hypothesis, formulated by ichthyologist George S. Meyers in the mid ’60s, has been strengthened by genetic work in the current decade.

Photo Credits:
All photos of museum specimens were taken by Marc Kibbey; other photos with permission of members of the North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA.org).

Detailed information for each specimen is available through the OSU Fish Division Database.

About the Author: Marc Kibbey is Associate Curator of the Fish Division at the Museum of Biological Diversity.

 

*** Which of these fish species do you have in your aquarium at home? ***

A newcomer to the OSUM Fish Division

We have several voucher specimens belonging to the order Salmoniformes, ray-finned fish like salmon, trout, chars, in our holdings, including the Lake Whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis. While common across most of their range, some are considered of special concern or vulnerable in the State of Ohio, for example, the Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush. Another Coregonus species, the Cisco, is critically imperiled in Ohio, and Bloaters Coregonus hoyi (the hero of Monday’s post) were never found in Lake Erie due to the lake’s shallowness. Bloaters were extirpated from deeper Lake Ontario where the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is now reintroducing them. The specimens from the Tom Simon collection are the first Bloater vouchers (e.g. OSUM 117265) that we have for the OSUM fish collection.

By the way, a voucher specimen is a preserved specimen of an identified taxon permanently stored in our collection and retained as a reference. It has a unique identifier (e.g. OSUM 117265) and can be retrieved and used in scientific studies.

When moving the specimens, we needed many helping hands. Here Kai Raab, husband of OSUM Director Meg Daly, assisted with accession of some of the Tom Simon collection.

All Bloater specimens from the Tom Simon collection were trawled by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) during their surveys and have inflated gas bladders due to being brought from depths quickly.

The Bloater’s specific epithet, C. hoyi, is derived from the name of the man who originally discovered it while dredging in Lake Michigan, Dr. P. R Hoy. Dr. Hoy engaged ichthyologist Dr. James P. Milner to describe the species.

Coregonus is a diverse genus of fish with at least 68 described species. Some are easier to tell apart by morphology than others. Lake Whitefish, Coregonus clupeaformis, are separable from the Cisco and Bloater in the field by observing the mouth position: subterminal versus terminal, respectively. Note the terminal mouth, pointing forward, in the Cisco on the right.

Other species are quite similar in appearance and hard to separate in the field. For example, the Cisco and the Nipigon Cisco C. nipigon, as well as the Bloater and the Kiyi C. kiyi look very similar and occur sympatrically in some water bodies. For these and other species in the genus one must count the gill rakers to separate them. Gill rakers are the bony comb-like structure that serve to sieve food as the fish expels water through its gills while it is eating. The gill rakers are shown under the gill cover in the images below, to the left of the gill filaments that function to transfer oxygen from the water to capillaries. Once the food particles are caught on the rakers the fish can swallow them.

Cisco were found to have gill raker counts from 36 to 50, with a mean of 43 in Lake Saganaga and adjacent Minnesota border lakes. While gill raker counts for the Nipigon Cisco range between 45 to 70 with a higher mean than for the Cisco at 56.

Here are some additional species in the genus Coregonus; some are easy to tell apart by their location of occurrence.

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Reference:

Etnier, David A., and Christopher E. Skelton (2003). Analysis of Three Cisco Forms (Coregonus, Samonidae) from Lake Saganaga and Adjacent Lakes near the Minnesota/Ontario Border. Copeia, Vol. 4, 739-749.

 

About the Author: Marc Kibbey is Associate Curator of the Fish Division at the Museum of Biological Diversity.

 

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The Bloater: A Complicated Story

You may recall from my last post that I mentioned a fish species from the recent Tom Simon Fish Collection acquisition, the “Bloater” Coregonus hoyi.  This is a species that in the recent past has been considered endangered, indeed it was known to be extirpated from some of the Great Lakes and thought to perhaps be on its way to extinction across the rest of its distribution.  Herein I’ll detail some of the reasons for which the bloater came to be in such peril.  But for now, allow me to follow a rabbitfish trail (ahem):

Perhaps you have wondered why this fish is named so cruelly?  Perhaps, one might think, the name was given in less politically correct days when short shrift was given to a fish’s feelings, but that is simply not the case.  No, the name actually describes the propensity of the species’ swim bladder to expand and make it look fat when it is trawled from the deep, colder waters that it prefers.  So you see it actually does have to do with the poor fish having a tendency to be gassy.

OSUM 117265 Coregonus hoyi "bloater"

Yes, that bladder does make you look fat! OSUM 117265 Coregonus hoyi 195mm SL 1 of 18 specimens from jar 1 of 3

The rapid ascent from the fairly extreme depths, down to almost 700 feet where the fish resides, and consequent distension of the bladder does cause more than just discomfort for the fish. The complexity of the connection to the gas bladder in the bloaters renders them unable to quickly discharge the air and liable to bursting upon fast ascent from depths.

In many species of fish the swim bladder is directly connected to the gut and the fish can use this connection to directly control the amount of gas in the bladder.  This condition is shown in part (a) of the diagram below.

physostome - définition - C'est quoi

But the bloater is one of many fish species that have the physoclistous condition, shown above in part (b) of the diagram above.

The Bloater is one of several  “whitefish” species that have become rare and imperiled, some to the point of extinction. Bloaters are invertivores – you guessed right, feed on invertebrates – at all stages of their lives and formerly fed in open water (Many other fish species are invertivores at immature stages and shift their diets to larger prey including vertebrates as adults).  It has been documented that bloaters (and some other fish species) have changed their feeding habits in response to competition from the invasive Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus to feed on benthic invertebrates.  Happily for the bloaters they seem to have benefited, in the long run, from the Alewife invasion.

But there are several other reasons for the drastic declines seen among the bloater populations during the mid-1900’s:  Whitefish provide table fare for many piscivorous people, the fish-eaters among you.  The major upswing of humans in the Midwest region caused concordant increases in demand for food sources, and people began to realize that the Great Lakes could provide fish aplenty to help meet that need.  The lakes and rivers of the Midwest states at one time “teemed with fish”, according to several historians that wrote during that era of expansion and discovery. It seemed that the bounty was inexhaustible, and fishermen quickly capitalized on the surging market, filling their trawl nets to capacity for several decades.

Until, at varying points depending on the species being taken, the catches began to dwindle.  Before long the fishermen began to realize that conservationists were correct in their assessment that the boom wasn’t going to last, and regulations were put in place to husband the resources. However, other influences began to make themselves known, some with alarming results. Compounding the effects of overfishing was the connection of Lake Ontario to Lake Erie via the Welland Canal ca. 1830 that enabled incursion of several invasive fish species:  First to make an impact was the Alewife, a relatively small fish species in the herring family Clupeidae. Alewives compete with coregonids and other fish species for planktonic prey, to the point where diets for some forms shifted from zooplankton to benthic foods, feeding at the lowest level of the water body. Those species that couldn’t adapt their diets disappeared, became smaller or declined in numbers.  The next invader to have a significant impact on bloaters was the Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus. Sea Lampreys are piscivorous parasites (or is that parasitic piscivores?) for approximately a year of their several years’ long life cycle.  The invasive lamprey arrived in the Great Lakes in the early 1900’s and by the mid 1900’s had decimated populations of several salmoniform species. It is thought that one reason fish species like Lake Trout, and Lake Whitefish and other coregonids, fared so poorly with the Sea Lampreys is that they tend to inhabit deeper, colder areas of the Great Lakes where the lampreys prefer to feed.  For example, bloaters are most commonly found at a depth of 90 – 680 feet in water temperatures between 34-55 degrees Fahrenheit. Thanks to the monumental efforts of our conservation agencies the Sea Lamprey populations are under reasonably good control to the point where Great Lakes fishes are much safer!

 

Reference:

McDonald, M. E., Crowder, L. B., & Brandt, S. B. (1990). Changes in Mysis and Pontoporeia populations in southeastern Lake Michigan: a response to shifts in the fish community. Limnology and Oceanography, 35(1), 220-227.

 

About the Author: Marc Kibbey is Associate Curator of the Fish Division at the Museum of Biological Diversity.

 

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