ECOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS OF FRESHWATER FISHES

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1005697
• Project No.: PEN04584
• Project Start Date: Mar 10, 2015
• Project End Date: Jan 31, 2020

Project Director
Stauffer, JA.

Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
208 MUELLER LABORATORY
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802

Performing Department
Ecosystem Science & Management

Non Technical Summary
The loss of species diversity throughout the world has reached crisis proportions (Wilson 1985, Hawksworth and Ritchie 1993). Often entire ecological communities are removed without the toll to the species composition to the planet ever being known. Usually attention is drawn to the dramatic removal of tropical forests and the disastrous consequences to our ecosystem, but the outcome to freshwater ecosystems is often not discussed (Kaufman 1992, McKaye et al. 1995). The dramatic loss of the Lake Victoria cichlid fauna (Kaufman 1998), however, has heightened the world's sensitivity to man's impact on lakes and rivers through species introductions and alteration of the accompanying watersheds (McKaye et al 1995). The changes in the Lake Victoria ecosystem has raised our awareness as to how rapidly an entire vertebrate fauna can be destroyed, species relationships altered, and reproductive behavior disturbed (Seehausen et al. 1997a,b, 1998). Humphry Greenwood spent a lifetime studying the Lake Victoria species flock and catalogued and described over 100 species. Other European scientists expanded upon his work and watched the decline of this remarkable fauna (Witte et al. 1992) and loss of over 200 species (Seehausen et. al. 1997a,b). Yet despite these Herculean efforts much of the lost fauna was undescribed.

Animal Health Component

0%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

50%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
135	0810	1060	100%

Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife;

Subject Of Investigation
0810 - Finfish;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);

Keywords

freshwater

fishes

and

species

descriptions

Goals / Objectives
1) continue to describe species of freshwater fishes, including populations of Brook Trout;2) use of CT scanner to refine our analysis of morphology of both African and North American fishes and to compare phenotypic plasticity in introduced and native fishes;3) to develop recover plan for endangered fishes and monitor introduced fishes

Project Methods
Continue to describe fishes using morphometric techniques (e.g., sheared pca) and data from CT scans. I will employ an evolutionary/phylogenetic species concept to make decisions about species status.

Progress 03/10/15 to 01/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Conservation organizations, recreational fishermen, fisheries scientists, ichthyologists Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three Ph.D students and four MSc students have completed their degrees. I currently have an additional 3 Ph.D students and 3 MSc students working on their degrees. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been published in scientific journals. One book on the fishes of Pennsylvania was published. Several news paper articles relative to the reestablishment of the Chesapeake Logperch have appeared. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The project is completed.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: Since 2015, I have described 10 new species of fishes from Lake Malawi. Additionally, I have redescribed two species and assigned them to different genera. My work with the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) has led to an interest in fishes of Angola. To date, I have started the description of four new species of Serranochromis and one species of Microctenopoma. I have one paper in press on the elevation of the subspecies Serranochromis robustus jallae to full species. The work of my graduate students and me are continuing on the descriptions of undescribed species of Salvelinus spp. In 2014, I designated a neotype of the Brook Trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, which laid the foundation to which other populations of Salvelinus can be compared. We examined the neutral genetic and phenotypic variation within and among insolated headwater Salvelinus spp. populations. In 2018, I started working on the description of three new species of Salvelinus from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One of my current Ph. D students, Sara Mueller, began a study of the Salvelinus spp. that inhabit Pennsylvania and has identified at least four undescribed species that inhabit the Commonwealth. When she has finished her work, the Brook Trout, state fish of Pennsylvania, will not longer be found in the state. Goal 2: We are continuing to use the CT scanner to examine the morphology of both Lake Malawi fishes and fishes indigenous to Pennsylvania. As part of a cooperative agreement with Penn State University and SAIAB I am in the process of transferring some 35,000 fishes from LakeMalawito SAIAB. As part of this endeavor, we are taking CT scans of the putative holotype and one allotype (opposite sex of the holotype) of some 200 undescribed species, before the transfer is complete. My group is also taking CT scans of undescribed Salvelinus spp. (see above) to discover morphological synapomorphies. Goal 3: In 2019, we were funded to study the life history and develop a recovery plan for the Chesapeake Logperch (Percina bimaculata) in the Susquehanna River. My students and I are collecting specimens throughout the range where it still exists. Additionally, we are culturing specimens in the Forest Resources Building and the Rock Springs facility. We tagged some 900 specimens and introduced them into portions of the Susquehanna River drainage, where they were extirpated. We are continuing this work in hopes to reestablish populations in their historic range. We are continuing to monitor the impact of the introduced Round Goby, Neogibius melanstomus on the native mussels in French Creek of northwestern Pennsylvania. We are using CT scans to determine they are consuming native mussels and looking at the genetic composition of their stomach contents. We then blast the genetic data to known sequences of the native mussels to determine, which mussels they are consuming. Finally, I have published on the territoriality and coexistence between the introduced and native rock-dwelling cichlids in Lake Malawi.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Honick, A. S., B. J. Zimmerman, J. R. Stauffer, Jr., D. G. Argent, and B. A. Porter. 2017. Recently developed sampling methods reveal expanded distributions of three Etheostoma darters (subgenus Nothonotus) within the upper Ohio River Watershed. Northeastern Naturalist 24:209-234.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr. 2017. Cautions about precautions. Animal Sentience 2017.023:1-3.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr., T. B. Phiri, and A. F. Konings. 2018. Description of two deep-water fishes of the genus Diplotaxodon from Lake Mala?i, Africa. Biological Society of Washington 131:90-100.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Weathers, T. C., D. C. Kazyak, J. R. Stauffer, Jr., M. A. Kulp, S. E. Moore, T. L. King, and J. E. Carlson. 2019. Neutral genetic and phenotypic variation within and among isolated headwater Brook Trout populations. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 148:5872.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bradshaw-Wilson, C., J. R. Stauffer, Jr., J. Wisor, K. Clark, S. Mueller. 2019. Documentation of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) in the diet of Round Gobies (Neogobius melansotomus) within the French Creek Watershed, Pennsylvania. American Midland Naturalist 181:259270.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr. 2017. The potential of sentience in fishes (Commentary on Balcombes What Fishes Know). Animal Sentience 2017.02:1-3.

Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Conservation organizations, recreational fishermen, fisheries scientists, ichthyologists Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One graduate student, Sean Rafferty, completed his Ph.D on selected fishes in Lake Erie. Two MSc students completed their work on Pennsylvania fishes and unionid mussels. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Papers have been presented at regional,national, and internationalmeetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I will continute to work on describing species from Lake Malawi and Pennsylvania.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1.I have continued my studies on Brook Trout throughout the Appalachian Mountains. A manuscript has been submitted that describes three new species of Salvelinus to the journal Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwaters. I am advising on Ph.D. student, Sara Mueller, who will describe several species of Salvelinus from Pennsylvania, that were originally thought to be Brook Trout, Salvelinus fontinalis. 2. Idescribed one new species of rock-dwelling cichlids from Lake Mala?i, Metriaclima koningsi, and two new deep-water species of the genus Diplotaxodon. Ct scans of many of the fishes from Lake Mala?i permitted us to correlate observed behaviors with morphological adaptations in Lake Mala?i cichlids and a manuscript has been submitted to the Journal of Fish Biology for the special issue of African cichlids. 3.I have submitted two proposals to study the Chesapeake Logperch, Percina bimaculata, which only occurs in the lower Susquehanna River. We will be culturing these fishes to attempt to re-introduce them into their native habitat above Holtwood Dam on the Susquehanna River, where they have been extirpated.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr. 2017. Similar anatomy does not imply comparable function. Animal Sentience 2017.075: 1-2.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Stauffer, J. R. and H. Madsen. 2018. A one health approach to reducing schistosomiasis transmission in Lake Malawi. Preventive Medicine and Community Health 1 (3): 14.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr. 2018. Description of a new species of Metriaclima from Lake Mala?i, Mala?i, Africa. Zootaxa 4370:095100.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Mueller, S., J. Wisor, C. Bradshaw-Wilson, J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 2017. Expansion of the invasive Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) into Allegheny River tributaries: LeBoeuf and French creeks in Pennsylvania. Journal of Pennsylvania Academy of Science 91:105111.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Pickett, S. C. and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 2017. Determining the benthic macroinvertebrate community composition of freshwater streams from fish gut analysis. Northeastern Naturalist 24:544556.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Description of two deep-water fishes of the genus Diplotaxodon from Lake Mala?i, Africa. Biological Society of Washington 131:90-100.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Makocho, P. and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 2018. Territoriality and the coexistence between the introduced and the native Mbuna of the Lake Mala?i National Park. Modern Environmental Science and Engineering.

Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Scientists and students working on evolution and systemtics of fishes. Changes/Problems:Exchange of fishes between South Africa and Penn State is slow. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Several Ph.d and MS students How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I continue to describe species of cichlids from Lake Malawi. My monitoring of the potential impact of rt 209 construction by PennDot on the aquatic biota in Marshalls Creek continues. We implanted sondes at three locations in Marshalls Creek that transmit real-time data to my office and laboratories. We were funded to begin work on eDNA sampling for Asian Carp in the Ohio River Valley and Great Lakes drainages. We have collected additional data on the genome of Asian Carp and Goby species. We have collected and analyzed water sampes from localities where Asian Carp are known to exist and have compared them to samples from the Ohio River drainage and Lake Erie. To date we have no evidence of Asian Carp in Pennsylvania waters. We have received funding to develop a field test kit for the introduced Round Goby and Tubenose Goby. PARTICIPANTS: Henry Madsen, University of Copenhagen Ad Konings, Cichlid Press, Texas and J. S. Likongwe, University of Malawi.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The fish collection held by the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity holds many fishes collected in the early 1900's from Lake Malawi. These fishes are unidentified. I have spent several weeks working in the collection and have found new species of fishes which I am describing. I am also identifying these fishes. Mozambique has established a national underwater park in Lake Malawi. The government does not permit the collection of fishes. Hence, we are using go-pros to take pictures of the fishes. These fishes are very closely related and are difficult to identify. My graduate students and I have been examining these pictures/videos and identifying the fishes. I became interested in whether fishes demonstrate sentience. At the request of the publisher I reviewed Balcombe's book entitled What Fishes Know and several published works in Animal Sentience. Based on 40 years of studying fishes I opined on behavior studies and what may be a signal of sentience and what is probably a result of natural selection and functional morphology. I began studies to use stomach content of preserved fishes to reconstruct the macroinvertebrate communities of streams in Pennsylvania for which macroinvertebrate collections of not available.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Nickoloff, A. L. and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 2017. Identification of selected Pennsylvania mammals using hair. Journal of Pennsylvania Academy of Science 91:45-54.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr. 2017. The potential of sentience in fishes (Commentary on Balcombes What Fishes Know). Animal Sentience 2017.02:1-3.

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:My work is of interest to other systematists working on freshwater fishes. The South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity brings me over yearly to identify fishes collected from Lake Malawi. I completed the text entitled Fishes of Pennsylvania, which will be of interest to scientists, students, and general public. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Continue to train both undergraduate and graduate students at Penn State, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Sciences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through the publications listed in the Products section of this report. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue working on the systematics of freshwater fishes.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Finished the book "The Fishes of Pennsylvania" and was able to place a free copy in every public high school in Pennsylvania.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr., A. F. Konings, and T. M. Ryan. 2016. Redescription of Pseudotropheus livingstonii and Pseudotropheus elegans from Lake Mala?i, Africa. Zootaxa 4154:169-178.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr., J. Schnars, C. Wilson, R. Taylor, and C. K. Murray. 2016. Status of exotic Round and Tubenose Gobies in Pennsylvania. Northeastern Naturalist 23:395-407.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Li, Shan, A. F. Konings, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 2016. A revision of the Pseudotropheus elongatus species group (Teleostei: Cichlidae) with a description of a new genus and seven new species. Zootaxa 4168:353-381.
• Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr., R. W. Criswell, and D. P. Fischer. 2016. Fishes of Pennsylvania. Cichlid Press. El Paso, TX 556p.

Progress 03/10/15 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:My work is of interest to other systematists working on freshwater fishes. The South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity brings me over yearly to identify fishes collected from Lake Malawi. Changes/Problems:No major changes occurred. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Several graduate students completed their degrees and will graduate in December. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through the publications listed in the Products section of this report. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Many species of fishes were described. We used CT scanner to provide data to designate a holotype of the Brook Trout. Several species of fishes from Pennsylvania were removed from the endangered category because of our work.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr., H. Madsen, D. Rollinson. 2014. Introgression in Lake Mala?i: Increasing the threat of human urogenital schistosomiasis? EcoHealth: 11:251-254.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Freedman, J., B. Lorson, R. Taylor, R. Carline, J. Stauffer. 2014. River of the dammed: Longitudinal changes in fish assemblages in response to dams. Hydrobiologia 727:19-33.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Van Bocxlaer, B., C. Albrecht, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 2014. Growing population and ecosystem change increase human schistosomiasis around Lake Malawi. Trends in Parasitology 30:217-220.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Nguyen, M. H., T. Dang, J. R. Stauffer, Jr., H. Madsen. 2014. Feeding behavior of black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus (Pices: Cyprinidae) on fry of other fish species and trematode transmitting snail species. Biological Control 72:118-124.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hung, N. M., T. M. Ryan, J. R. Stauffer, Jr., H. Madsen. 2014. Does hardness of food affect the development of pharyngeal teeth of black carp. Mylopharyngodon piceus (Pises: Cyprinidae)? Biological Control 80:156-159.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Stauffer, J. R., Jr. and T. L. King. 2014. Designation of a neotype for brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis. Biological Society of Washington 127:557-567.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Li, Shan, K. Werner, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 2014. An examination of Petromyzontidae in Pennsylvania  Current distribution and habitat preference of native lampreys. Northeastern Naturalist 21:606-618.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Shank, M. K. and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 2014. Surface water withdrawal: Effects on fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages in the Susquehanna River Basin, USA. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 30: 229-248.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Miller, J. J., M. S. Eackles, J. R. Stauffer, Jr., T. L. King. 2015. Next-Generation genomic shotgun sequencing indicates greater genetic variability in the mitochondria of Hypophthalmichthys molitrix relative to H. nobilis from the Mississippi River, USA and provides tools for research and detection. Conservation Genetics Resources 7:9-11.