Algonquin Park Research Articles

Opalinidae (Sarcomastigophora) in North American Amphibia. GenusProtoopalina Metcalf, 1918

During 1992, 83 specimens of North American Amphibia from Algonquin Park and Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and from El Paso County, Texas USA, comprising 14 species in seven families, were checked for opalinids in the cloaca.Protoopalina allisteri n. sp. is described from oneGastrophryne carolinensis (Microhylidae) from Arkansas andP. mitotica was found in one of fourScaphiopus multiplicatus (Pelobatidae) from Texas. The North American species ofProtoopalina are reviewed.Zelleriella ovoidea (Metcalf, 1923) is proposed as a new combination forP. ovoidea.

Male mate choice based upon female nuptial coloration in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans(Kirtland)

Female brook sticklebacks develop distinct nuptial coloration following ovulation. When given a choice between a gravid, uncoloured, inter-spawning interval female and a gravid, nuptially coloured female, male brook sticklebacks from two Ontario populations (1) approached the nuptially coloured female first, (2) directed their first courtship pummel towards her, and (3) spent significantly more time with her than with the inter-spawning interval female. Males from Tooley Creek spent more of their time near the nuptially coloured female engaged in courtship behaviour and more of their time near the inter-spawning interval female engaged in aggressive behaviour. Males from Algonquin Park showed no difference in the intensity of courtship or aggression directed towards the two females. These results corroborate the hypothesis that female nuptial coloration plays a role in signalling courtship readiness in at least some gasterosteids. The hypothesis that males should become more discriminating in their choice of spawning partners as they increase their parental investment was tested by comparing male mate choice based upon female colour for males with no eggs, one clutch and two clutches. The results corroborated the hypothesis: compared to when they were eggless, males with two clutches (1) spent less time with the inter-spawning interval female, (2) spent more time with the nuptially coloured female, (3) spent a greater proportion of the time near the nuptially coloured female engaged in courtship behaviour, and (4) displayed a trend towards increasing levels of aggression directed towards the inter-spawning interval female with increasing parental investment.

General features of Brook Trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, spawning sites in lakes in Algonquin Park, Ontario

General features of Brook Trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, spawning sites in lakes in Algonquin Park, Ontario

Algonquin Park: Excursions with a Photographer, by Dave Taylor [Review

Algonquin Park: Excursions with a Photographer, by Dave Taylor [Review

An Empirical Model of Lentic Brook Trout

Abstract We present data on age, growth, mortality, population size, and fisheries for 12 populations of wild lentic brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis in Algonquin Park, Ontario, and incorporate the data in a simulation model. The populations showed a remarkable homogeneity of parameters; nearly all had very rapid growth, early maturity, high mortality, and small adult stocks. Growth and population density, however, were negatively associated with the complexity of fish communities. Modeling suggested that neither minimum nor maximum size limits will materially improve quality of fishing. A 360-mm minimum size limit, for example, produced only marginal improvements in simulated catch per unit effort and mean length of harvested fish but sharp reductions in harvest per unit effort and yield. The model predicted the maximum annual sustainable yield of these fisheries to be 0.78 kg/ha, a value close to that predicted by the morphoedaphic index (total dissolved solids divided by mean depth). Our results have ...

White pine management and conservation in Algonquin Park

Logging for white and red pine originated around 1840 in the area that subsequently became Algonquin Park. This paper discusses the uniform shelterwood system for managing white pine, difficulties encountered and the maintenance of white pine in other working groups. Key words: Algonquin Park, uniform shelterwood, natural regeneration, white pine

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, Serotype 17, Septicemia in Moose (Alces alces) from Algonquin Park, Ontario

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae septicemia was diagnosed in three of four moose found dead in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, in the spring of 1989. Type 17 E. rhusiopathiae was isolated from liver, lung, kidney, and lymph nodes of affected animals, which were in poor body condition, and suffering hair loss associated with tick (Dermacentor albipictus) infestations. Microscopic lesions consisted of mild, multifocal, necrotizing myocarditis, sarcocystosis, and lymph node atrophy. The bacterium may have gained entry to these animals via ingestion of, or percutaneous exposure to, contaminated water, or possibly by the bites of ticks. Malnutrition and tick infestation may have predisposed the animals to infection by this opportunistic pathogen.

Genetic Differentiation among Populations of the Northern Redbelly Dace (Phoxinus eos) in Ontario

Eighteen populations of northern redbelly dace (Phoxinus eos) from three regions in Ontario were examined genetically using protein electrophoresis. Differentiation among regions was greater (FST = 0.100) than within them (FST = 0.045–0.064), suggesting that levels of gene flow are high enough to prevent differentiation through drift only within regions. Levels of heterozygosity, percent polymorphic loci, and number of alleles per locus are high relative to other fish species, which suggests that populations of dace in this study have not been subject to severe bottlenecks. Thus, population divergence has apparently occurred gradually over the last 10 000 yr. Average heterozygosity was not correlated with pond area. Thus, populations in Algonquin Park are not more prone to the effects of drift than those in the other two regions. Populations from the Sudbury region were genetically differentiated from those in Algonquin Park and from near Kingston, a result consistent with the historical biogeography of Ontario. Despite relatively high levels of heterozygosity, observed levels in this study deviated significantly from those expected from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The breeding biology of P. eos and other fish suggests that our results may be explained by the presence of population substructuring in the localities sampled.

Aenigmatomyces, an Enigmatic New Genus of Fungi from Algonquin Park, Canada

We led mycological field courses in Algonquin Park, Ontario, during September of 1991 and 1992. On each occasion, though in different parts of the park, while making collections of other microfungi on dead leaves, we inadvertently made a small collection of a delicate, colorless, undescribed organism. While this obviously belonged to the fungal Union (Barr, 1992), it could not be readily placed in any existing fungal species, genus, order, class or even phylum. This enigmatic organism produced branched, septate, somatic hyphae, closely applied to, and possibly parasitizing, the hyphae or thick-walled spores of another fungus (one of the substrate fungi was tentatively identified as a Pythium sp.). Specialized spore-producing hyphae arose from the somatic hyphae. The distal two-thirds of each sporiferous hypha was closely septate. From each ofthe up to 35 short cells thus delimited arose single, lateral, finely tapering, needle-like extensions. At the tip of each extension, a single, apically pointed, ampulliform spore was produced. Significantly, during sporogenesis the entire con? tents of the sporiferous cell and of its lateral ex? tension migrated into the spore, which then seceded fairly readily, though sometimes taking with it a narrow apical fragment of the sporif? erous extension. This total evacuation of a spo? riferous cell is rare among members of the phy? lum Dikaryomycota (Ascomycotina plus Basidiomycotina), but is often seen in the protoctistan fungi (e.g., phyla Oomycota and Chytridiomycota). Although we have collected the fungus only twice and have not been able to establish it in axenic culture (spores plated out on malt extract agar failed to germinate), we consider this or? ganism to be so unusual as to be worth bringing to the attention of other mycologists. We describe a new taxon in the hope that others will rediscover it and perhaps be able to place it in an appropriate taxonomic niche.

Aenigmatomyces, an Enigmatic New Genus of Fungi from Algonquin Park, Canada

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image sizeKey Words: AenigmatomycesCyrenellacytoplasmic migrationfungiMeristacrumnew taxonprotoctistan fungispore morphologyTriacutus

Foraging tactic as a potential selection pressure influencing geographic differences in body shape among populations of dace (Phoxinus eos)

Geographic differences in body shape among 18 populations of northern redbelly dace in three regions of Ontario (Sudbury, Algonquin Provincial Park, and Kingston) were quantified with truss analysis. Principal component analysis of size-adjusted residuals of the trusses revealed that 35.11% of the morphological variation in body shape is explained on principal component I. This axis describes the major trend in body shape variation, ranging from populations in which fish are relatively deep-bodied to those in which fish are more shallow-bodied. Shape variation among populations in Algonquin Park spanned the range observed among all three regions in Ontario. Experiments were thus conducted on two Algonquin populations differing considerably in body shape, and it was found that deeper bodied fish from one population were significantly more adept at capturing evasive prey than were relatively shallow-bodied fish from another population. This finding is not only consistent with functional analysis of fish shape but also fits predictions from foraging theory. Fish catching plentiful but evasive prey should rely on ambush predation, and thus have a large body depth, which increases body area relative to mass, in order to optimize acceleration. Conversely, fish catching less evasive food occurring at low density should use a tactic of wide foraging, for which they need a streamlined anterior body suitable for cruising over extended periods of time. Samples from the natural population revealed that deep-bodied fish had a significantly greater number of evasive prey in their guts, and that the more shallow-bodied fish had relatively few. Furthermore, the pond in which the deeper bodied fish occurred had significantly higher prey density than the pond inhabited by the shallow-bodied fish. Because the Algonquin populations experience sufficient gene flow to prevent differentiation due to drift alone, the most likely explanation for population differentiation resides in selection on body shape for foraging tactic.

Some Platyhelminths Inhabiting White-Throated Sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis (Aves: Emberizidae: Emberizinae), from Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada

Twenty-two of 26 white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, from Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada, hosted 1 or 2 species of platyhelminths. One species of cestode and 3 of digeneans were collected. Anonchotaenia quiscali inhabited 50% of the sparrows. This is the third report of A. quiscali; Z. albicollis is a new host. Brachylecithum nanum inhabited 43%, Zonorchis alveyi 15%, and Prosthogonimus macrorchis 8% of the sparrows examined. Ontario is a new geographic distribution record from all 4 parasite species. The proportion of hosts infected with 2 species was not significantly different from expected based on single species prevalences, indicating that there is no competitive interaction among these species of parasites for access to the avian hosts.

Changes in the Emergence of Blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) over 50 Years from Algonquin Park Streams: Is Acidification the Cause?

Studies on emergence of insect communities conducted in Mud Creek and Costello Creek in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada, over a period of 50 yr were analyzed to assess the changes that have occurred in blackfly populations in streams receiving long-term anthropogenic acidification. The headwaters of Mud Creek are currently experiencing pH depressions to 5.1–4.9 during snowmelt whereas pH depressions downstream in Mud Creek and throughout Costello Creek are less severe (to pH 5.6–5.8) compared with summer and autumn values of about 6.4. Since the time of the earliest collections, the total number of blackflies emerging has increased at the most severely acidified sites at the headwaters of Mud Creek, while emergence remains unchanged at all the less acidified sites. Large fluctuations from year to year in the emergence densities of many individual species were observed at all sites, making it difficult to determine which species may increase or decrease concurrent with elevated acidity.

Myxobolus lii nom.nov.: a replacement for M. gibbosus Li and Desser, 1985 (Myxosporea: Myxozoa), preoccupied

Myxobolus gibbosus Li and Desser, 1985 described from sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus, from Lake Sasajewun, Algonquin Park, Ontario, is renamed Myxobolus lii nom.nov. because the original binomen was preoccupied by Myxobolus gibbosus Herrick, 1941, described from the same host from Lake Erie.

An ultrastructural study of Brugerolleia algonquinensis gen. nov., sp. nov. (Diplomonadina; Diplomonadida), a flagellate parasite in the blood of frogs from Ontario, Canada

A diplomonad flagellate found in the blood of frogs in Algonquin Park, Ontario is described by light and electron microscopy. Based on comparisons to earlier ultrastructural descriptions of various diplomonads, this flagellate warrants separate generic status and is consequently named Brugerolleia algonquinensis gen. nov., sp. nov. This organism measures 8.4 × 3.2 μm with the following features: paired reniform nuclei with kinetids arranged in binary axial symmetry; 3 pairs of flagella emerging from the anteriad and a pair of posteriorly directed recurrent flagella which emerge through fibrillar funnel-like structures; dimpled terminus; direct fibres posterior to the nuclei that recurve near the posterior end of the organism; concentric layers of endoplasmic reticulum; absence of mitochondria, Golgi bodies and caudal spike. The systematic position of this new genus is discussed with respect to the other diplomonads. Brugerolleia gen. nov. appears to have arisen between Octomitus spp. and Giardia spp. in the evolutionary scheme proposed by Brugerolle.

Environmental Contaminants in Eggs of the Common Snapping Turtle ( Chelydra serpentina serpentina) from the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin of Ontario, Canada (1981, 1984)

Common snapping turtle eggs were collected at nesting sites from two locations in 1981 and eight locations in 1984 in Ontario, Canada, and analyzed for chlorinated hydrocarbons. Nine locations were within the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin and one location, Algonquin Provincial Park, served as a control site outside the basin. Total PCBs ranged from 0.057 to 4.76 mg/kg (wet wt.) among the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River samples. Mean total PCB concentration at Algonquin Park was 0.187 mg/kg. Eggs from Hamilton Harbour, Port Franks, Bay of Quinte/Murray Canal, and Lake St. Clair were the most contaminated among the ten sample locations. There was statistically significant variation in concentrations of all organochlorine compounds among sites. In some locations, there was high variation in contamination among clutches. A pool of eggs from Hamilton Harbour contained 67 ng/kg of 2378-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and 14.0 ng/kg of23478-pentachlorodibenzofuran. Some dioxin congeners were present in turtle eggs at concentrations higher or equal to that in herring gull eggs from Hamilton Harbour. Comprehensive GC/MS analysis of the Hamilton Harbour eggs also revealed the presence of trace amounts of o,p-dicofol, octachlorostyrene, and toxaphene. Geographic variation in contaminant levels in snapping turtle eggs from wetlands is similar to that in spottail shiners and herring gull eggs collected in the pelagic zone of the Great Lakes. This may be due to the consumption of migrant fish by snapping turtles in nearshore wetlands.

New Distribution Records for Bunodera eucaliae and Bunodera inconstans n. comb. (Digenea: Allocreadiidae: Bunoderinae) with Discussion of Their Phylogenetic Relationships

Bunodera eucaliae inhabits Culaea inconstans from eastern Ontario and western Nebraska, both new geographic distribution records. Culaeatrema inconstans inhabits Culaea inconstans from eastern Ontario, also a new distribution record. Comparison of Culaeatrema inconstans with species of Paracreptotrematina, Bunoderella, Bunodera, and Crepidostomum within a phylogenetic context suggests that it is the sister species of B. eucaliae. Accordingly, it is transferred to Bunodera, although the monophyly of Bunodera as a group has not yet been established because there is no synapomorphy linking Bunodera luciopercae with the clade containing Bunodera mediovitellata, Bunodera sacculata, B. eucaliae, and B. inconstans. As part of a study of possible effects of parasite load on vigor of mating behavior, I collected helminth parasites from 100 specimens of brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans (Kirkland), from Tooley Creek, near Darlington, Ontario, during late May and early June 1991. Among the parasites collected were numerous specimens of Bunodera eucaliae (Miller, 1936) Miller, 1940 (Digenea: Allocreadiidae), which inhabited 75 (75%) of the sticklebacks examined. I subsequently collected specimens of another allocreadiid digenean species, Culaeatrema inconstans Lasee, Font, and Sutherland, 1988, in 2 of 10 (20%) Culaea inconstans from Lake Sasajewan, Algonquin Park, Ontario, during early June 1991 and specimens of B. eucaliae in 7 of 20 (35%) Culaea inconstans from the Snake River, 30 km south of Merriman, Cherry County, Nebraska, during late July 1991. This study was prompted by the pronounced similarity between B. eucaliae and Culaeatrema inconstans, both hosted by Cu-

Ultrastructural observations on an icosahedral cytoplasmic virus in leukocytes of frogs from Algonquin Park, Ontario

An icosahedral virus was observed in mononuclear leukocytes and heterophils of a mink frog (Rana septentrionalis) and a green frog (Rana clamitans). Infected cells were grossly distorted, often containing a prominent juxtanuclear viroplasm in which nucleocapsids in various stages of assembly occurred. Viral particles were also observed occasionally within the nucleus of some cells. Mature nucleocapsids were usually hexagonal in profile, measuring about 131 ± 9.2 nm in diameter (n = 10) and were arranged in paracrystalline arrays. Individual viral particles were observed at the periphery of infected cells apparently budding from the plasma membrane. These observations extend both the geographic and host ranges of frog leukocytic virus which could serve as a useful model, not only for the study of viral function, but also for its effect on the immune system of the anuran host.

Antennal and palpal sensilla of Forcipomyia (Lasiohelea Kieffer) fairfaxensis Wirth, 1951 (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Algonquin Park, Ontario

The antennal and palpal sensilla of Forcipomyia (Lasiohelea) fairfaxensis, a biting midge that bloodfeeds on frogs in Algonquin Park, Ontario, were examined by light and electron microscopy and compared with those of Culicoides species. A cluster of ~26 bulbous sensilla occurred in a pit on the third palpal segment (an intermediate number of sensilla compared with the mammalophilic and ornithophilic species). Four types of sensilla (chaetica, trichodea, basiconica, and coeloconica) found on the antennae differed in their distribution from, and were significantly higher in number than on either mammalophilic or ornithophilic ceratopogonids.

Prevalence and intensity of Haemogregarina balli (Apicomplexa: Adeleina: Haemogregarinidae) in three turtle species from Ontario, with observations on intraerythrocytic development

Free-ranging populations of turtles, Chelydra serpentina serpentina, Chrysemys picta marginata, and Clemmys insculpta, were examined for prevalence and intensity of Haemogregarina balli during the summers of 1989 and 1990 in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Prevalence data indicated that C. s. serpentina was the primary intermediate host. The lower prevalence in C. p. marginata and C. insculpta is attributed in part to the relatively smaller surface area available for the attachment and bite of the definitive host, Placobdella ornata. Intensities of bloodstream stages in C. p. marginata and C. insculpta were rarely greater than 1 in 104 erythrocytes. The intensity in C. s. serpentina ranged from 0.5 to 30.0 in 103 erythrocytes. Intensity data for C. s. serpentina demonstrated quantitative and qualitative changes in parasitaemia in 2-week intervals in 1990. It is suggested that the biology of P. ornata is an important influence in these changes. Microscopic and statistical analysis provided independent evidence for binary fission of merozoites in the life history of H. balli.