to the Upper Susquehanna Watershed Sarah E. Coney Anguilla rostrata - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Reintroduction of American Eel to the Upper Susquehanna Watershed Sarah E. Coney

Anguilla rostrata • Catadromous • Sargasso sea • Panmictic population

One Eel, Many Names • Leptocephali • Planktonic stage • Glass Eel • Commercially valuable • Elver

• Yellow Eel • Coloration highly variable • Silver Eel • Fully mature

• 90 ft tall Conowingo Dam • Began operation in 1928

Dams in New York Susquehanna • Cooperstown Dam • Goodyear Dam • Southside Dam • Mill St. Bridge Dam • Binghamton Dam • Johnson City Dam

• Most populous riverine pearly mussel • Historically • Eels needed for recruitment • Aging population Eastern Elliptio Elliptio complanata

Rusty Crayfish Faxonius rusticus • Invasive species • Native to Ohio River Valley • Disrupt ecosystem • Preys on Yellow Lampmussels Lampsilis cariosa

American Eel Parasites • Asian swim-bladder nematode Anguillicoloides crassus • Non-native • Prevalent throughout population • Native parasites? • Shifts in parasites over lifetime

American Eel Immunology • Host glochidia throughout life • Trout as hosts? • American eel most effective host?

Mussel Bed Surveys • Identify mussel beds • Mussels tagged & replaced • Locations GPS marked

Crayfish Data Crayfish Species Captured at Sample Sites 100 C. bartonii Captured O. propinquus Captured F. rusticus Captured 90 80 70 Number of Crayfish Captured 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sites

Fish Assemblages per Site 300 250 200 Number of Fish per Species 150 100 50 0 Charlotte Creek Fortin Park Cooperstown Dam Susquehanna Main Otego Creek Butternut Creek Wharton Creek Site Common Shiner Slimy Sculpin Black Nose Dace Long Nose Dace Spottail Shiner White Sucker Fall Fish Margined Madtom Cut lip Minnow Rock Bass Red Breast Sunfish Shield Darter Tessellated Darter Creek Chub Small Mouth Bass American Eel Pumpkin Seed River Chub Emerald Shiner Stickleback Rosy face Shiner Brown Trout

Fish Assemblages per Site 300 250 Charlotte Creek 200 Number of Fish per Species 150 100 50 0 Charlotte Creek Fortin Park Cooperstown Dam Susquehanna Main Otego Creek Butternut Creek Wharton Creek Site Common Shiner Slimy Sculpin Black Nose Dace Long Nose Dace Spottail Shiner White Sucker Fall Fish Margined Madtom Cut lip Minnow Rock Bass Red Breast Sunfish Shield Darter Tessellated Darter Creek Chub Small Mouth Bass American Eel Pumpkin Seed River Chub Emerald Shiner Stickleback Rosy face Shiner Brown Trout

Fish Assemblages per Site 300 250 Otego Creek 200 Number of Fish per Species 150 100 50 0 Charlotte Creek Fortin Park Cooperstown Dam Susquehanna Main Otego Creek Butternut Creek Wharton Creek Site Common Shiner Slimy Sculpin Black Nose Dace Long Nose Dace Spottail Shiner White Sucker Fall Fish Margined Madtom Cut lip Minnow Rock Bass Red Breast Sunfish Shield Darter Tessellated Darter Creek Chub Small Mouth Bass American Eel Pumpkin Seed River Chub Emerald Shiner Stickleback Rosy face Shiner Brown Trout

Fish Assemblages per Site 300 250 200 Number of Fish per Species 150 100 50 0 Charlotte Creek Fortin Park Cooperstown Dam Susquehanna Main Otego Creek Butternut Creek Wharton Creek Site Common Shiner Slimy Sculpin Black Nose Dace Long Nose Dace Spottail Shiner White Sucker Fall Fish Margined Madtom Cut lip Minnow Rock Bass Red Breast Sunfish Shield Darter Tessellated Darter Creek Chub Small Mouth Bass American Eel Pumpkin Seed River Chub Emerald Shiner Stickleback Rosy face Shiner Brown Trout

• Delineated mussel bed & created grid • Sampled 10 randomly selected 1 by 1 m squares • Washed benthic Juvenile Eastern Elliptio sediment through Surveys mesh sieves

Crayfish Species Captured at Release Sites 60 Number of Crayfish Sampled 50 O. propinquus Captured F. rusticus Captured C. bartonii Captured 40 30 20 10 0 Charlotte Butternut Sangerfield River Tioughnioga River Sites

Elvers in NY! • Stocked 10,000+ elvers in Chenango River • Stocked 6,000+ elvers in Butternut Creek

• 3 elver release sites • Butternut Creek • Charlotte Creek • Chenango River downstream of Sangerfield River • Working with Eel Passage Advisory Group (EPAG) to obtain more elvers from Conowingo Dam • Utilizing eDNA to supplement traditional 2020 & Beyond sampling methods

Questions?

Thank you • Paul H. Lord • All of my Volunteers (especially the Butternut • SUNY Oneonta Valley Association!) • Professor Daniel Stich • U.S. Fish & Wildlife • SUNY Oneonta • NYSDEC • Professor Florian Reyda • Eel Passage Advisory Group • SUNY Oneonta • Upper Susquehanna • Professor Vicky Lentz Conservation Alliance • SUNY Oneonta • SRBC • Professor Mark Kuhlmann • Excelon • Hartwick College • Professor Mark Cornwell • SUNY Cobleskill

Sarah Coney • Sarah.coney@Oneonta.edu • (845) 798-1236