James E McKenna, Jr., PhD (Former Employee)

The redistribution of suspended organisms and materials by large-scale currents is part of natural ecological processes in large aquatic systems but can contribute to ecosystem disruption when exotic elements are introduced into the system. Toxic compounds and planktonic organisms spend various lengths of time in suspension before settling to the bottom or otherwise being removed. We...

The Ponto-Caspian mysid, Hemimysis anomala, was first observed in southeastern Lake Ontario in May 2006. During July and August 2007, gill nets were fished in 6 to 8 m of water at two locations of known Hemimysis colonization in southeastern Lake Ontario to determine if fish that consume macroinvertebrates were beginning to include this new invasive mysid in their diets. Of nine fish...

Non-native migratory salmonids ascend tributaries to spawn in all the Great Lakes. In Lake Ontario, these species include Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), steelhead (O. mykiss), and brown trout (Salmo trutta). Although successful natural reproduction has been documented for many of these species, little research has been conducted on their spawning...

Temperature is one of the most important environmental influences on aquatic organisms. It is a primary driver of physiological rates and many abiotic processes. However, despite extensive research and measurements, synoptic estimates of water temperature are not available for most regions, limiting our ability to make systemwide and large-scale assessments of aquatic resources or...

In 2005, 2008, and 2009, eggs were collected for analysis of total thiamine fiom 2, 58, and 30 gravid rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) captured in Edgewater Creek, Owasco Lake, New York, respectively. Mean egg thiamine concentrations (nmollg i standard error) in 2005, 2008, and 2009 were 6.0 ± 1.8, 13.3 ± 0.5, and 14.9 ± 0.2, respectively. Eggs from three more females in 2009 were manually...

Walleyes Sander vitreus are stocked into Owasco Lake, New York, to provide a sport fishery, but the population must be sustained by annual hatchery supplementation despite the presence of appropriate habitat. Therefore, we evaluated walleye spawning success in Dutch Hollow Brook, a tributary of Owasco Lake, to determine whether early survival limited recruitment. Spawning success during...