Lake Erie Food Web
Tertiary Consumer
Sea Lamprey
An aggressive, non-native parasite that wraps around its prey and makes a hole with its rough tongue.
Secondary Consumers Cont.
Rainbow Trout
Smallmouth Bass
Non-Native to Lake Erie. Rarely found deeper than 35 feet. It is a carnivore.
Native fish. Intolerant to pollution so if they are around, the ecosystem is very healthy.
Secondary Consumers
Channel Catfish
Lake Whitefish
They prefer cool deep waters with gravel or sandy bottom. Primarily bottom feeders.
Native fish, found in the colder areas, diet includes zebra mussels.
Primary Consumers
Mollusks
Zebra Mussels
Invaded Lake Erie in 1988-89. They remove huge quantities of plankton.
Mixture of native and non-native species of snails that are eaten lake white fish and other bottom feeding fish.
Producers
Blue-Green Algae
Green Alge
Microscopic plants that form the main support of the summer food web.
Often inedible and frequently toxic. It blooms in late summer and looks like someone spilled paint on the surface of the water.