| Lake Champlain threatened by new invasive fish | |
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Summers out on Lake Champlain are hard to beat, but biologists are worried about a new invasive fish that threatens the watershed.
The round goby is originally from the Black and Caspian Seas but found its way to the Great Lakes in the ‘90s from traveling cargo ships.
“In the last few years, unfortunately, round goby got into the Erie Canal system and moved rather rapidly through that system,” said Meg Modley with the Lake Champlain Basin Program. |
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Recently, the species was found in the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, which is close to the Lake Champlain Canal at the southern end of the lake. It’s unknown what could happen if they were to make it into the lake. “We do expect we would see a big impact on our native biodiversity,” Modley said.
The round goby spends its time lurking on the bottom of lakes in search of other species’ eggs, which could threaten future generations of species of fish who already call Lake Champlain home. The fish also are known carriers of diseases that other fish are susceptible to. |
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