Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Where are the Fish?

Compared to the crabs, snails, and plants washing ashore on Ocean beaches the Lake Michigan shoreline can be pretty blank.

Except when it comes to invasive species. Most beach garbage washes ashore with Zebra Snails attached---an invasive species causing havoc to the ecosystem.

The small fish in the picture puzzled me the other day. After searching the available information on the Internet I think it may be a Goby Fish, another invasive species from the ballasts of  ships coming into the Great Lakes system. Relatively small, this tiny fish apparently packs a big environmental impact by taking over native habitat and eating the native's food. This one was dead on the shore and had a stab wound--- probably killed and dropped by one of the many shorebirds that were resting and feeding on the Lake Michigan shoreline.  

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