Distribution and habitat of Nitellopsis obtusa (Characeae) in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Abstract

Nitellopsis obtusa, a macroalga (Characeae) native to Europe and Asia, was found in U.S. waters of the St. Clair-Detroit River system in 1983, thus extending the range of this taxon into the Laurentian Great Lakes about 850 km from the St. Lawrence River where it was first discovered in North America in 1978. Its occurrence only in water frequented by commercial shipping vessels suggests that it is distributed via this mechanism. In the St. Clair-Detroit River system, N. obtusa was collected with a Ponar grab at four locations, and with a grapnel at one additional location. It was the ninth most frequently found macrophyte and it was most abundant at Belle Isle in the Detroit River, where the mean dry-weight biomass in Ponar samples was 0 g m-2 in June, 37 g m-2 in August, and 32 g m−2 in September. Maximum biomass of this taxon in one Ponar grab at this location was 289 g m-2 in September. The alga occurred primarily in water of relatively low current velocity (11.3 cm s−1) and in association with Vallisneria americana, Myriophyllum spicatum, Potamogeton richardsonii, Najas flexilis, and Elodea canadensis.