[2014] Chantelle Coulombe: SPINY WATER FLEA

INFO:The Spiny Water Flea is a small aquatic predator that causes a very serious risk to North Americas aquatic ecosystem, and that is native to Eurasia, beside Africa. This species of zooplankton was discovered in Lake Ontario in 1982, and by 1987 it was established in all of the Great Lakes. It is an animal-invertabrates-crustaceans. It is asexual and sexual, and can multiply very quickly. It can also survive long winters at the bottom of lakes and it can reproduce in the summer. Their diet is plankton. They are around 4cm, and they are long and bony-backed. Their scientific name is Bythotrephes Longimanus, meaning their species and genus. Their habitat is large, deep, clear lakes. Sometimes they live in shallow water. They are also found in the inland lakes of Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, and also suprisingly found in Belgium and the Netherlands. They cling on to fishing pole lines and are a threat to some fish, because sometimes they can kill them. They came to Ontario easily by travelling to inland waters, clinging on to boats and ships. The spiny water flea affects the biodiversity of Ontario because it sticks in clumps to fishing poles and it is a threat to all fish that live in the Lakes to which the spiny water flea is located, and it will choke the fish and possibly kill it. By chokeing the fish, it will throw up the organizm the flea was in.

Silent Invader

Spiny Water Flea

Interesting!

The Invasive Species:

AFFECTS! BIG TIME!!!!

Did you know....all you can see of the spiny water flea is 2 balck dots and if fish eat this crustacean, it will choke because of the fleas bonyness!

The red indicates where it is found in Ontario.

Spiny Water Flea

The red indicates where the spiny water flea is native to Eurasia