Dangerous Shrimp (Hemimysis anomala)?

[Neonshrimp]

But how large do they get?

The article said that they were half and inch.

[ToddnBecka]

If they're about the same size as the frozen mysis shrimp I feed to my fish, they are a tad smaller than brine shrimp.

[badflash]

I get the feeling they are about the same size as Opae ula

[RCSGuy]

Oh, thanks Wow, they ARE really small

[badflash]

I was able to get this info from the fellow cited in the article:

Hemimysis prefers rocky areas or can be found swarming along piers/jetties. I believe they were found in the vicinity of Oswego in Lake Ontario.

This is about a 5 hour drive from my house. Once I find out when the come out in numbers I'll plan a collecting trip.

[badflash]

BTW-
The best information is that these were introduced the same way as the zebra muscles. That was via ballast water taken on in europe and discharged into our waters. There are currently no $$ for enforcement.

[badflash]

If you didnt already know, the tip of lake Michigan, in teh past was a vast serries of wetlands and Lakes. Some of the remaining Lakes are Lake Calumet and Wolf Lake. Yes, they are even on wikipedia, but here is the point, the tip of Lake Michigan is/was heavily industrialized, concerning of ports and mills, etc. Over in Michigan City, Indiana, you can see a Nucluear Cooling tower from the Indiana Dunes State Park. As we all know, Reactors leave the water nice and warm. Also, Lake Michicagan (by Chicago at least) has not frozen over yet. Many great lakes do not freeze as much as they used to.

Mysis shrimp are pretty small, that is why scientists worry about their impact on plankton. I know in the tributaries of Lake Michigan, at least on the Illinios side, there are reports of Palaemonentes shrimp, but I belive that is not located in the Graet Lakes water shed, but rather in the rivers that feed the Mississsippi.

Red Mytid shrimp are from the Black sea. You may think, "how can something from the Black sea survive in Cold old Great lakes. Well, many invasives are from Black Sea boats, such as the ZEBRA MUSSEL and gobies to name two.

I just think it is a bit disturning that some of you would rather care about it becoming a pet you can catch out of the great lakes than invasive problems. Infact, go, catch them all and make them your pet. I do not want to find out in the future, if their numbers take off, if they can cause any damage or not.

There is a big conservation of the great lakes area where I work at, so any new specie introduced alarms me. If you knew the propoganda and facts, you may understand too.

I can see you are concerned, but the genie is out of the bottle and hobbiests had nothing to do with it. Once that happens you just have to deal with it. It is just not possible to prevent invasive species from being invasive. As hobbiest we expect people to be responsible as we do industries, but people are people, so the spread of species is inevitable. When a new interesting species comes to my doorstep, I for one intend to take advantage of it.

Most of the plants and many of the animals we are familiar with are not native and the environment survived. Some created an upset while they were fitting in, but the world did not come to an end.

BTW- If you see cooling towers you can be very sure the power plant is not heating the lake. Cooling towers work via evaporative cooling and add very little heat to the lake. They add a lot of moisture to the air and increase the amount of rain and snow down wind.

[Neonshrimp]

When a new interesting species comes to my doorstep, I for one intend to take advantage of it.

We are also acting to preserve the animal by captive breeding.

BTW- If you see cooling towers you can be very sure the power plant is not heating the lake. Cooling towers work via evaporative cooling and add very little heat to the lake. They add a lot of moisture to the air and increase the amount of rain and snow down wind.

Interesting information

[badflash]

Just for future reference, there are basically 2 power plant designs, it does not need to be nuclear. Cooling towers use the air to cool the power plant, or they can just use the river or lake for cooling. With cooling towers water is drawn from the river or lake to make up for evaporation, and enough extra to dilute the evaporated concentrates. The EPA requires that a power plant can heat the water no more the 5 degrees F 1 mile down stream from the plant. I'm not sure how they do it with lakes, but typically their intakes & outfalls are widely separated by about a mile.

When the unit shuts down during the winter the biggest issue is irate fishermen. Fishing is best near the plant when it is operating. Nukes are actually very green despite the bad press.

[shrimpthing]

Mustafa: I think that concern is correctly to be had. Mysis relicta, which as you pointed out has been introduced into other places, is a good example. Actually, frozen mysis sold in the hobby by one company are from an introduced population of mysids. Mysid shrimp feed mainly on other zooplankton such as daphnia and when introduced into the lake change the food web at the base. A basic explanation is that the salmon young living in the lake feed upon the daphnia at the surface during the day. During the day, the mysis shrimp were at depth. At night, safe from predation, the mysis would swim up to the surface and eat the food the young salmon depended on. The lake became a monoculture of bluegreen algae and shrimp, and the salmon population and the fishery crashed.

This is taken from an article in AFM, btw. I would say however that Northern ecosystems are more prone to this due to being so simple.

[The Fisherman]

You know, it's only a 45 min drive (Roughly) to lake MI from where I live...

Its getting late in the season though. I might try to make a collection trip. I'd love to see these in the hobby.

[badflash]

Good luck! I feel the same way, but there weren't any where I was looking. Got a nice painted turtle and a bunch of neat snails though.

[Mustafa]

Good luck! I feel the same way, but there weren't any where I was looking. Got a nice painted turtle and a bunch of neat snails though.

So where are the snail pictures that you promised months ago? The "other invertebrates" section is waiting for your pics....

[badflash]

I'll see what I can do. They have done well and are growing along with the turtle.

[geo]

I have heard of the Zebra Mussel being a huge concern here in Ontario but an invasive shrimp is a new one for me. As others have already mentioned between extremely temperature changes and other species consuming them their survival rate would not be high enough to warrant concern. I also agree with the statement regarding someone getting ahold of some and attempting to breed them. If they can survive in Lake Ontario then they must be genetically geared towards prolific breeding.

Peace, Geo