Gobies gobble on the eleventh day of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas. Photo: Kristen Stanford, Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory (Flickr).
Editor’s Note: It’s an Echo tradition to revisit one of our favorite holiday stories: Tim Campbell’s The Twelve Days of Aquatic Invasive Species Christmas.
Campbell rewrote the lyrics of the holiday tune for the Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2011. We’re publishing a new verse on each of the actual twelve days of Christmas.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, a freighter sent to me…
‘Leven gobies gobbling — Round gobies are very effective egg predators. Their advanced lateral line system (a series of fish sensory organs) allows them to find eggs that native benthic egg predators are unable to. The round goby’s fondness for fish eggs has affected restoration efforts of lake trout and lake sturgeon, and has caused managers to alter fishing regulations to protect nesting smallmouth bass.
Ten alewives croaking, nine eggs in resting, eight shrimp ‘a swarming, seven carp and counting, six lamprey leaping, FIVE BOAT-WASH STATIONS! Four perch on ice, three clean boat steps, two red swamp crayfish and a carp barrier in the city!