# New European invader found in Muskegon channel



## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

> A species of shrimp previously found only in the seas of eastern Europe has now been discovered half a world away -- in the Muskegon Lake Channel.
> Thousands of bloody red mysid, Hemimysis anomala, were discovered in the channel in November. It is the most recent addition to a list of Great Lakes invader species that now numbers more than 180.
> Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Lake Michigan Field Station who found swarms of bloody red mysid said the half-inch-long shrimp were likely imported to the Great Lakes in the ballast water of an oceangoing freighter.


http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1166802361197610.xml&coll=8


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Thanks for posting Ray. I had to leave for a day. Here is the full article for reading after the chronicle's 14-day period.

Muskegon, Michigan - European invader found in channel

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1166802361197610.xml&coll=8

12/22/06 By Jeff Alexander CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

A species of shrimp previously found only in the seas of eastern Europe has now been discovered half a world away -- in the Muskegon Lake Channel. 

Thousands of bloody red mysid, Hemimysis anomala, were discovered in the channel in November. It is the most recent addition to a list of Great Lakes invader species that now numbers more than 180. 

Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Lake Michigan Field Station who found swarms of bloody red mysid said the half-inch-long shrimp were likely imported to the Great Lakes in the ballast water of an oceangoing freighter.

"It came from the Ponto-Caspian region -- the same area that gave us zebra mussels, quagga mussels and the goby," said Steve Pothoven, a NOAA fisheries biologist who documented its presence here. 

The discovery marked the first time the bloody red mysid has been spotted in North American waters, Pothoven said. The finding will be announced in the March 2007 issue of the Journal of Great Lakes Research. 

Scientists said the discovery was unsettling for two reasons: It again demonstrated that exotic species are still entering the Great Lakes; and the imported shrimp may compete with fish for zooplankton, a microscopic source of food. 

"It's no shock that we're still seeing new species enter the Great Lakes ... the international shipping industry is more or less unregulated," said Joel Brammeier, associate director for the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes. 

A new invasive species becomes established in the Great Lakes every eight months, scientists have estimated. Invasive species have caused billions of dollars damage in the Great Lakes, disrupting fisheries and industrial activities, triggering toxic algae blooms and jeopardizing some native species, according to studies. 

Bob McCann, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, called the news of another exotic in the lakes disappointing. 

"It's a clear example that once these species get into the lakes, they thrive. That is evidenced by the fact that the scientists found thousands of these shrimp," McCann said.

McCann said the discovery highlights the importance of Michigan's new ballast water rules for oceangoing freighters that dock in Michigan waters. The new state law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires officials on oceangoing freighters to prove they have technology on board to kill organisms in ballast tanks before docking in Michigan ports. 

Michigan lawmakers approved the ballast water permit program after federal officials failed to regulate freighter ballast water as a water pollutant. No shipping companies have applied for the state permit, McCann said. 

In September, a federal court in California ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate ballast water discharges from freighters as a water pollutant nationwide by September 2008.

An existing federal law requires ocean freighters entering the Great Lakes to exchange ballast water in the Atlantic Ocean before entering the St. Lawrence River. But studies have shown the existing ballast water rules do not prevent ships from carrying exotic species and potentially deadly pathogens into the lakes in ballast water tanks. 

Pothoven said scientists are convinced the bloody red mysid was imported here via freighter ballast water because it had to make the trip in a live state to become established in Muskegon Lake. 

The Great Lakes are home to a native species of shrimp, called mysis, which thrives in cold, deep waters and are an important source of fish food. Pothoven said the bloody red mysid prefers warm, shallow waters with rocky bottoms. 

The native and nonnative species of shrimp likely will not compete with each other, Pothoven said. 

But the bloody red mysid could create a "bottleneck" at the base of the food chain by eating zooplankton favored by tiny fish, he said. The flip side of the coin is that fish may feast on the imported shrimp. 

NOAA scientists plan to study how widespread the bloody red mysid is in the Great Lakes. Pothoven said they also will try to determine if the new species will add more biological chaos to a Great Lakes ecosystem already disrupted by such exotics as sea lamprey, alewife and zebra mussels. 

"It always creates a sense of uncertainty when you get something new in the (Great Lakes) system because you don't know what's going to happen," Pothoven said.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Hemimysis anomala photos
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/photogallery/Hemimysis.html

Hemimysis anomala is capable of changing its body color from reddish to ivory-yellow to almost transparent with a touch of ivory-yellow color due to the contraction of its ivory-yellow chromatophores. Preserved specimens become opaque after preservation.
Photo Credits: NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory 

For more information contact:
Steven Pothoven 
Fishery Biologist
NOAA/GLERL
Lake Michigan Field Station
1431 Beach St.
Muskegon, MI 49441-1098
Phone: 231-759-9035
Fax: 231-759-2414
Email: [email protected]


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Shrimp joins Great Lakes invader list 
New species, found in Michigan, is latest ecological threat from Caspian region

Eight years ago, two researchers at a Canadian university predicted the half-inch, bright orange Hemimysis anomala was a likely candidate to follow other notorious Caspian Sea region invaders such as the zebra mussel into the Great Lakes, if more wasn't done to stop the discharge of contaminated ballast water from oceangoing freighters traveling up the St. Lawrence Seaway.

On Nov. 7, the shrimp turned up about 70 miles from downtown Milwaukee, near Muskegon, Mich.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=544851


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## Salami (Dec 23, 2004)

Sad SAD SAD


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## jeremy L (Sep 19, 2002)

lets hope the shimp will become a food source for baitfish and gamefish fry. Maybe in the end it will be helpful.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

In late December NOAA announced the discovery near Muskegon, Michigan of a new invader, the Ponto-Caspian mysid shrimp Hemimysis anomala. On Thursday, January 11, Steve Pothoven, from GLERL's Lake Michigan Field Station, will present a seminar on the Hemimysis discovery (10:30 a.m., main GLERL Conference Rm) See:

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars
and
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/photogallery/Hemimysis.html

After the seminar, starting at 1 p.m. GLERL will host an informal coordination meeting in our main conference room for anyone interested in joining us to develop a coordinated survey approach to identify where else, if at all, the species has established within the basin, and also to discuss potential research topics and outline the elements of a rapid research response. 

If you think you'll attend the afternoon meeting, or if you can't attend but would like more information, please let me know ([email protected]).

Thanks.

Dave Reid
Director, NOAA National Center for Research on Aquatic Invasive Species
NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (GLERL)
Ann Arbor, MI

GLERL 2205 Commonwealth Blvd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2945 (734) 741-2235

Thursday January 11 10:30 am GLERL Conference Room 105
Title: "Hemimysis anomala - the newest Great Lakes invader" 
Speaker: Steve Pothoven
Fishery Biologist, GLERL

Abstract:
Hemimysis anomala (G.O. Sars, 1907), a Ponto-Caspian crustacean (Mysidacea), was identified in November 2006 in the channel between Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake. Large numbers of individuals formed aggregations averaging 1540 ± 333 individuals/m^2 . The population included females (63%), males (35%) and juveniles (2%), and some females were in a reproductive condition. Thus the population appears to be reproducing. It was stocked into water-bodies in southern part of the former Soviet Union to provide food for fish food and was first observed as an invader in the Kaunass reservoirs in the Baltic Sea basin (Lithuania) in 1962. It has since spread to other areas including the Baltic Sea proper (1992), River Rhine (1997), and the United Kingdom (2004). H. anomala is an omnivorous feeder, consuming both zooplankton and phytoplankton, has a high feeding rate and can switch feeding modes with ontogeny or as food availability changes. The species is found predominantly over hard bottom areas such as rocks or zebra mussel beds and is found less frequently over sandy or silty bottoms or in areas overgrown with aquatic vegetation. The hidden life-style of this species makes it difficult to assess its geographic distribution. Research is needed to assess 1) the distribution of H. anomala in the Great Lakes basin, and 2) the likely impacts on both the Great Lakes and inland lake ecosystems.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Researchers don't find invasive shrimp off Ludington
Whats wiggly, red and not found in Ludington?

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=36653

06/26/07 BRIAN MULHERIN - DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
[email protected] 843-1122, ext. 348

Whats wiggly, red and not found in Ludington?

Bloody red shrimp, or Hemimysis anomala. 

The Department of Natural Resources research vessel Steelhead was in Ludington last week assisting some Canadian researchers with sampling Lake Michigan.

The researchers, who do most of their sampling from dockside traps in marinas, did not find the invasive species in Ludington, but they did find what they believe are Hemimysis in Naubinway and Escanaba. The shrimp were first found in Muskegon Lake last year. 

According to a publication by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hemimysis are a small shrimp-like crustacean native to the low-salinity margins of the Black Sea, the Azov Sea and the eastern Caspian Sea. 

The agency is concerned that the Hemimysis will compete with native opossum shrimp. 

Jocelyn Gerlofsma of Canadas Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the lead researcher, said her team found no evidence of Hemimysis in the waters around Ludington. 

I dont know if they just werent there or we just didnt see them, she said. 

She said her findings of Hemimysis in other ports still need to be confirmed, but the organisms found match the field identification marks for Hemimysis. 

The Steelhead has since returned to Charlevoix, but it will be back in Ludington in July to give tours as part of the conference of National Association of County Agricultural Agents in Grand Rapids. 

The traditionally green Steelhead is sporting a new coat of blue paint this year. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Biologist Randy Claramunt said the boat had some hull work done last winter and needed a fresh coat of paint to maintain the hull. He did not know why the color change was made.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Windsor - Fast-feeding shrimp found locally

Last summer scientists searched for the bloody-red shrimp and found them in Lake Erie near Kingsville, in Lake Michigan and in Lake Ontario. The shrimp that were first spotted in 2006 in Lake Ontario and a canal that connects Lake Michigan to Muskegon Lake have now been discovered in about 20 spots in lakes Erie, Michigan and Ontario.

Meisenheimer said if Canada can't control the dumping of ballast water, it should ban the less than 500 ocean-going ships from coming into the St. Lawrence Seaway each year.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=8e862c7c-ecf0-4295-baf0-091fec563efb


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Hunting bloody red shrimp in the St. Lawrence

The bloody red shrimp, one of Canada's newest invasive species, has already been found in Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie.

And this summer, Dr. Jrme Marty plans to hunt for the nickel-sized invertebrate with a taste for zooplankton in the St. Lawrence River. "It's been predicted to be here. It's likely to be found," says Marty, 34, a freshwater aquatic ecologist who joined the St. Lawrence River Institute last November. 

The tiny shrimp, named for its distinctive red colour, can destroy entire aquatic ecosystems by gobbling up the food fish need to survive. Adults eat zooplankton - small organisms that are energy sources for many fish - while the juveniles consume algae.

http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=957450


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