From Russia with Love, A New Exotic Organism Invades the Finger Lakes!, Dr. Joe Makarewicz, SUNY Brockport.

The invasion of our lakes and streams continues. First it was zebra mussels, then gobies and possibly blue-back herring. The number of exotic species, species non-native to North America, being introduced into the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes continues to grow. As of August 1999, New York Sea Grant-funded researcher Joseph Makarewicz of SUNY Brockport and Web Pearsal of the New York State Department of Conservation, confirmed the existence of Cercopagis pengoi (CP), a pelagic zooplankter, in Canandaigua and Seneca Lakes. This exotic species was first observed in Lake Ontario in summer of 1998. Based on recent findings, Makarewicz said it is likely that CP, a native to the Caspian and Aral Seas that has invaded salt and freshwater environments in Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine, will make its way into other Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes. "Based on early European studies of Cercopagis-invaded water bodies, the species has the potential to impact an aquatic ecosystem's small-bodied zooplankton and food web and contaminant dynamics. However, we cannot yet confirm what the species feeds on or what feeds on it in Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes."

In an attempt to better understand the biology and ecology of this species, Makarewicz is conducting research on the population dynamics, genetic identity, behavior, environmental tolerances, life history and impact on the Lake Ontario food. Makarewicz is joined in the research by co-principal investigators Edward Mills and Lars Rudstam of Cornell University and University of Windsor's Hugh MacIsaac. "Our results will help us predict the geographic and ecological impacts of this species in the Great Lakes, pointing us in the direction of potential mechanisms of control. In addition, the findings will provide the scientific background information needed for the development of informed management policies of important Great Lakes fisheries that may be impacted." With an importance being placed on determining the "invasion corridors" of this species, Makarewicz says, "Because Cercopagis has a much more confined distribution in Eurasia than most other exotic species that have established in the Great Lakes, the opportunity to identify its invasion corridor is very good. By identifying the invasion route of the species, we can pinpoint the location of its introduction, thereby preventing new introductions and perhaps providing an understanding in how to reduce the spread of established populations."