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Spiny Water Flea in the Great Lakes Region Overview | General Resources | Related Resources Current invaders:
Crustaceans: Rusty Crayfish | Spiny Water FleaFish: Goby (Round) | Goby (Tubenose) | Rudd | Ruffe | Sea Lamprey | White Perch Mollusks: Quagga Mussel | Zebra Mussel Plants: Curly-leaf Pondweed | Eurasian Watermilfoil | Phragmites (non-native) | Purple Loosestrife Viruses: Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus (VHSv) Potential invaders:
Fish: Asian Carp [Invasive species home page] 
What's New Why the water flea makes life miserable for lake fish The Citizen (8/3) Water fleas, an invasive species from Europe, is problematic because it isn't a good source of food for fish, it competes for food with juvenile fish, and it can foul fishing lines. 20 years after discovery, spiny water fleas thrive in Island Lake Duluth News Tribune (10/11) Two decades after first invading Island Lake Reservoir north of Duluth, spiny water fleas have muscled their way ahead of native species and signaled that they are here to stay. Aquatic invaders come in small packages, too Bay View Compass (5/1) Of the roughly 200 non-native animal and plant species that have established themselves in the Great Lakes since the 1800s, the ones that most grab our attention are often relatively large. But small, less visible non-native species also invade the Great Lakes. Mille Lacs has fleas Brainerd Dispatch (9/23) They sound innocent enough. But don't let the name fool you. They're an invasive species, and they were recently discovered in Lake Mille Lacs. DNR: Water flea hasn't hurt Lake of the Woods The Associated Press (8/9) It's been two years since an invasive species was confirmed in northern Minnesota's fish-rich Lake of the Woods, but state experts say they haven't seen negative effects yet from the spiny water flea. Spiny fleas are becoming a big problem elsewhere The Ithaca Journal (11/4) Turns out the fishing line-clogging pests we've always referred to as “spiny” or “spinier” fleas on Cayuga and other Finger Lakes are nothing of the sort.
Overview 
The spiny water flea (Bythotrephes cederstroemi), or "B.C.," is not an insect at all, but a tiny (less than half an inch long) crustacean with a long, sharp, barbed tail spine. A native of Great Britain and northern Europe east to the Caspian Sea, the animal was first found in Lake Huron in 1984--probably imported in the ballast water of a trans-oceanic freighter. Since then, populations have exploded and the animal can now be found throughout the Great Lakes and in some inland lakes.
No one is really sure what effect spiny water fleas will have on the ecosystems of the Great Lakes region. But resource managers are worried, because the animals may compete directly with young perch and other small fish for food, such as "Daphnia" zooplankton.
Spiny water fleas also reproduce rapidly. During warm summer conditions each female can produce up to 10 offspring every two weeks. As temperatures drop in the fall, eggs are produced that can lie dormant all winter. High numbers would not pose a problem if spiny water fleas were heavily consumed by predators. But its sharp spine makes it extremely hard for small fish to eat, leaving only some large fish to feed on them. As a result, spiny water flea populations remain high while populations of plankton, which they eat, have declined. Likely means of spread: Spiny water flea eggs and adults may wind up unseen in bilge water, bait buckets, and livewells. Also, fishing lines and downriggers will often be coated with both eggs and adults. Photo credits: Single Bythotrephes specimen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Spiny Water Flea on downrigger cable; Jeff Gunderson, Minnesota Sea Grant. References: A Field Guide to Aquatic Exotic Plants and Animals, University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program
General Resources Factsheet: Bythotrephes cederstroemi (PDF) Ohio Sea Grant College Program Spiny Tailed Bythotrephes Minnesota Sea Grant Program The Spiny Water Flea's life history and effects on the Great Lakes. Spiny Water Flea (Bythotrephes cederstroemi) Sea Grant Nonindigenous Species Site (SGNIS) Includes scientifically reviewed articles as well as images from Sea Grant researchers.
Related Resources GLIN: Agencies and Organizations, Fauna GLIN: Fish and Fisheries in the Great Lakes Region
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