Using Slimy Sculpins to Evaluate the Role of Genetics in the Success of Animal Reintroductions

Project Summary

Animal reintroduction efforts are likely to become more common due to habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation, coupled with the effects of climate change. Understanding what contributes to the success of these efforts will increase their effectiveness.

This project will use genetic testing to explore the survival and reproduction rates of slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus, a small, bottom-dwelling forage fish) translocated into several southern Minnesota streams. The tests will determine if there's a match between the quality of the sculpin's original habitat and the success they have in their new habitat. Researchers suspect that fish from low-quality habitats (streams with extensive silt and little bank vegetation) do better in low-quality habitats than fish from high-quality habitats (streams with a rocky bottom and wooded or grass-covered banks) and vice-versa. The findings will help guide natural resource managers in their efforts to restore this and other species.

This project builds on methods used in previous Sea Grant-funded studies that compared the survival of offspring from steelhead trout that were stocked in Lake Superior streams.