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Publications

This list of publications includes peer-review journal articles, official USGS publications series, reports and more authored by scientists in the Ecosystems Mission Area. A database of all USGS publications, with advanced search features, can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.  

Filter Total Items: 41778

Pesticide concentrations in Great Lakes fish

During the past 4 years the Ann Arbor Great Lakes Fishery Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries has been monitoring insecticide levels in fish from the Great Lakes. The two insecticides found in all Great Lakes fish have been DDT (DDT, DDD, DDE) and dieldrin. Fish from Lake Michigan contain from 2 to 7 times as much of these insecticides as those from the other Great Lakes. Insecticide
Authors
Robert E. Reinert

Growth, age at metamorphosis, and sex ratio of northern brook lamprey in a tributary of southern Lake Superior

Growth was studied of five year classes of the northern brook lamprey, Ichthyomyzon fossor, collected from the Sturgeon River during intervals between treatment of the stream with a lampricide. Growth varied considerably among year classes. Larvae of the 1963 year class were slightly longer at age II and 30% longer at age III than the III-group larvae of the 1960 year class. About 6% of 558 III-gr
Authors
Harold A. Purvis

Experimental hybridization among five species of lampreys from the Great Lakes

Experimental hybridization among five species of lampreys of the Upper Great Lakes routinely produced embryos through stage 8, and four crosses produced embryos to the larval stage. Three critical periods in the embryogenesis of hybrid lampreys were between stages 8 and 9, among stages 10, 11, and 12, and at stage 15. Embryonic development in hybrid lamprey embryos is basically identical to that o
Authors
George W. Piavis, John H. Howell, Allen J. Smith

Metamorphosis of the landlocked sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus

The external metamorphosis of the sea lamprey was divided into four stages, based primarily on the condition of the mouth: mouth reduced, mouth fused, mouth enclosed, and mouth elongated. During metamorphosis, the eye enlarged greatly, the snout and mouth region changed from a fleshy hood enclosing a sieve apparatus to a large sucking disc, the nasopore membrane and the branchial area shrank, the
Authors
Patrick J. Manion, Thomas M. Stauffer

Concentrations of trace elements in Great Lakes fishes

The concentration of 15 trace elements was determined by activation analysis of samples of whole fish and fish livers from three of the Great Lakes: Michigan, Superior, and Erie. The average concentrations of 7 elements in 19 whole fish from 3 species were as follows: uranium, 3ppb (parts per billion); thorium, 6ppb; cobalt, 28ppb; cadmium, 94ppb; arsenic, 16ppb; chromium, 1ppm; and copper, 1.3ppm
Authors
Henry F. Lucas, David N. Edgington, Peter J. Colby

Body-scale relation and calculation of growth in fishes

Most calculations of fish growth from scale measurements are made from one of four types of curves: straight line through the origin (Dahl-Lea); straight line with intercept (Lee); logarithmic line (Monastyrsky); empirically derived curve (SegerstråYle). Occasionally, different curves are used for different length intervals of fish. Present understanding of the basic principles of research on the
Authors
Ralph Hile

Temperature tolerance of bloater (Coregonus hoyi)

Juvenile and young adult bloaters (Coregonus hoyi) were tested for tolerance to high temperatures. The ultimate upper lethal temperature of juvenile bloaters (26.75 C) appeared to be slightly higher than that of young adult bloaters, but was similar to that of juvenile ciscoes,Coregonus artedii (26.0 C), the only other North American coregonine for which a detailed description of temperature toler
Authors
Thomas A. Edsall, Donald V. Rottiers, Edward H. Brown

Temperature tolerance of young-of-the-year cisco, Coregonus artedii

Young-of-the-year ciscoes (Coregonus artedii) acclimated to 2, 5, 10, 20 and 25 C and tested for tolerance to high and low temperatures provide the first detailed description of the thermal tolerance of coregonids in North America. The upper ultimate lethal temperature of the young ciscoes was 26 C (6 C higher than the maximum sustained temperature tolerated by adult ciscoes in nature) and the ult
Authors
Thomas A. Edsall, Peter J. Colby

The effect of temperature on the rate of development and survival of alewife eggs and larvae

Eggs from Lake Michigan alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) were incubated at 79 different temperatures from 42.1 to 87.0 F. Hatching occurred at 44.4-84.9 F and was optimum (38% hatched) at about 64 F. Incubation time varied from 15 days at 45 F to 3.7 days at 70 F and 2.1 days at 84 F. Time from start to finish of hatching ranged from 13 days at about 46 F to 2-3 days at 68-70 F and 1-2 days at 80-8
Authors
Thomas A. Edsall

A hermaphroditic coregonine from Lake Michigan

Hermaphroditism is relatively rare among the Salmonidae (See Atz, 1964 for a comprehensive review) and has never been reported for coregonine fishes. Recent examination of a collection of coregonines at the Great Lakes Fishery Laboratory disclosed a hermaphroditic bloater(Coregonus hoyi). The fish was captured in a gill net set at 50 fathoms on the bottom of Lake Michigan approximately 7.5 miles
Authors
Thomas A. Edsall

Resource crises in Lake Erie

Despite the tremendous value of the Great Lakes, a malaise is seriously destroying their worth. Accelerated enrichment, unabated pollution, over-exploitation, and accidental and intentional introduction of exotic species, have all been guided--more often misguided--by man. Of all five Great Lakes, Lake Erie stands out as the one most seriously damaged and in the greates further jeopardy at the p
Authors
Wilbur L. Hartman