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Predation on invasive zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, by pumpkinseed sunfish, rusty crayfish, and round goby

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Abstract

The enemy release hypothesis states that invasive species are successful in their new environment because native species are not adapted to utilize the invasive. If true for predators, native predators should have lower feeding rates on the invasive species than a predator from the native range of the invasive species. We tested this hypothesis for zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) by comparing handling time and predation rate on zebra mussels in the laboratory by two North American species (pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus, and rusty crayfish, Orconectes rusticus) and one predator with a long evolutionary history with zebra mussels (round goby, Neogobius melanostomus). Handling time per mussel (7 mm shell length) ranged from 25 to >70 s for the three predator species. Feeding rates on attached zebra mussels were higher for round goby than the two native predators. Medium and large gobies consumed 50–67 zebra mussels attached to stones in 24 h, whereas pumpkinseed and rusty crayfish consumed <11. This supports the hypothesis that the rapid spread of zebra mussels in North America was facilitated by low predation rates from the existing native predators. At these predation rates and realistic goby abundance estimates, round goby could affect zebra mussel abundance in some lakes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Thomas Brooking, Scott Krueger, James Watkins, William Fetzer, Nazila Koupayeh, and Dana Seidel for assistance in the field and Brian Young and Bill Thelen for help with the experimental setup. We are also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers as well as Matthew Kornis and the editor John Havel for valuable comments, which helped improve the manuscript. We thank Kjell Leonardsson for helpful discussions. This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR) (registration number: 623-2008-486) to RN and a grant from the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station to LGR.

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  1. Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

    Rahmat Naddafi

  2. Cornell Biological Field Station, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Bridgeport, NY, 13030, USA

    Lars G. Rudstam

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  1. Rahmat Naddafi
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  2. Lars G. Rudstam
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Correspondence to Rahmat Naddafi.

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Handling editor: John Havel

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Naddafi, R., Rudstam, L.G. Predation on invasive zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, by pumpkinseed sunfish, rusty crayfish, and round goby. Hydrobiologia 721, 107–115 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1653-z

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