Some of the creatures in
the lakes of Mountain Lakes:
Please note:
When we list something as
Òpossibly nativeÓ we mean that its natural range includes Northern New
Jersey. It is hard to know what might have been here in the swamps and
ponds that existed before Mr. Hapgood bulldozed most of our lakes into
existence in the early part of the last century.
ÒBait bucket biologyÓ
refers to the tendency of people to dump unused baitfish into the lake at the
end of the day. The fish may be native species, non-native species, or
the young of something surprising. Some of the odd fish caught in our
lakes can only have come in this way.
Some people take it upon
themselves to dump fish in our lakes because they like that species better than
another. Besides being illegal, it is very poor lake management. As
one of our paid lake biology consultants put it, if we stocked Muskellunge (a
very popular large game fish) in Wildwood Lake, we would wind up with one very
hungry under-sized Muskellunge, and nothing else left.
Dumping aquarium fish in
our lakes can be worse. Besides the non-native snails and plants that may
travel with them, even Goldfish, which will survive our winters, are bad for
the lakes. Goldfish are related to the Common Carp, can grow to a foot or
more long, can live for a decade in the wild, and eat native plants and the
eggs of native fish. DonÕt break the law; keep aquarium fish until they
die, or kill them humanely, but donÕt put them in our lakes.
Finally, we try to keep
links up to date but we do not promise that the links will be available,
useful, or screened in any way. Web safety is your responsibility.
FISH
Largemouth Bass –
Micropterus salmoides. Non-native, introduced for fishing. They eat
almost any moving creature that will fit in their mouths. Most people
fishing in the lakes of Mountain Lakes are looking for bass. See the following
site for an image. http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=6
Calico Bass, Black Crappie
– Pomoxis nigromaculatus. Non-native, introduced for fishing.
A large member of the sunfish family that likes to eat small fish. Has a big
but fragile mouth so handle it gently if you catch one. See the following
site for image and information.
www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=12
Bluegill Sunfish –
Lepomis macrochirus. Non-native, introduced for fishing and as forage for
other fish. See the following site for images.
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/bfg_bluegill.aspx?menuitem=14393
Pumpkinseed Sunfish
– Lepomis gibbosus. Possibly native. See the following site
for images and information.
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/bfg_pumpkinseed.aspx?menuitem=14406
Redbreast Sunfish – Lepomis
auritus. Possibly native. See the following site for image.
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/everglades/marshes/glossary/redbreastsunfish.html
Lepomis sunfish species
are closely related and inter-breed, so it can be hard to be sure what kind you
have in hand.
Eastern Chain Pickerel
– Esox niger. Possibly native. See the following site for
image and description. These are aggressive ambush predators that eat
small fish, frogs, and large insects. Large individuals will eat most
creatures They have many sharp teeth but will bite only if you catch one and
put your hand in its mouth. Or
near its mouth.
http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=42
Yellow Perch – Perca
flavescens. Possibly native. Colorful, likes cooler water, tends to
form tight schools of fish, eats small fish and insects. See the
following site for an image and other perch information.
www.canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/species/fish/fishpages/per_fla.htm
Brown Bullhead Catfish
– Ameiurus nebulosus. Possibly native. See the following site
for a picture.
http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=22
Channel Catfish have been
stocked in Mountain Lakes in the distant past but should not be present now.
Golden Shiner - Notemigonus
crysoleucas. Possibly native, possibly stocked
by Òbait bucket biologyÓ. See the following site for a picture. There is a non-native invasive species
(Rudd) that looks like this; we check for it occasionally.
http://pond.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprinidae/golden_shiner.html
Goldfish – Carassius auratus.
Not native to North America. We ge them from pets dumped out of fishbowls
or fish tossed in by Òbait bucket biologyÓ. They grow much larger in
lakes and are damaging to other species and vegetation. WeÕve seen one
over a foot long in Crystal Lake. It
is illegal to dump non-native species in our lakes, or to deliberately stock
native species without permission. See the following site for an image of
another non-native, closely related fish, the Common Carp. These have been spotted in GrundenÕs
Pond.
http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=23
Trout
For a brief period every Spring,
there are trout in Birchwood Lake. This follows stocking for the annual
ÒTrout DerbyÓ fishing contest for children. Luckily, most of the trout
are caught and taken away, since there is little chance that they could survive
a summer in any of our lakes. The most heat tolerant trout are stressed
by temperatures above 65¡; our lakes significantly exceed that for months on
end.
AMPHIBIANS
Bullfrog - Rana
catesbeiana. Native. The large frog at the edge of our lakes whose
Spring call is usually described as deep, loud, and sounding something like Òda
da duumÓ or ÒjugaruumÓ. TheyÕll eat any small creature they can get into
their mouths. And fish, herons, and Snapping Turtles eat them.
We also have Green
Frogs (a ÒtwangingÓ call) that use the lakes. TheyÕre smaller, and
less obvious, than Bullfrogs and have pronounced ridges down each side of their
backs.
Wood Frogs (sound vaguely
like a quacking duck) use temporary ponds to breed. They donÕt use the
lakes but you can hear them calling in wet woods. (If you want to learn
more about the ecology of wetland woods, you could start by looking up
Òobligate vernal pool breederÓ.)
American Toads (call is a
high trill), Spring Peepers (loud ringing chirping), and various
salamanders (no breeding call), also use the lakes in Spring. American
Toads usually breed in lakes or ponds that contain water year round.
Spring Peepers are frogs that can breed using lakes or temporary wet spots.
Here is a University of
Michigan site with pictures and calls of most of the frogs we mention above. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/topics/frogCalls.html
REPTILES
Snapping Turtle - Chelydra
serpentina. Native. Large to very large turtles. Do
not touch them. Probably the only
creature in our lakes that can and will bite hard enough to seriously hurt a
human. They do not seek to attack, but will bite if you step on
them or grab them. The females come out of the water once a year to lay
eggs. If you see one, leave it alone because it will bite to defend
itself and its bite can snap a broomstick or sever a finger. And a
Snapping Turtle can move much more quickly than you expect. And they have
a long neck and can reach farther back than you expect. The primary predator of adult snapping
turtles in Mountain Lakes is the automobile. The site below shows images
of Snappers.
http://www.chelonia.org/chelydrasandmacroclemysgallery.htm
Stinkpot Turtle – Sternotherus
odoratus. Native. Small turtle with a high domed shell. They
do stink.
http://www.chelonia.org/sternotherusgallery.htm
Eastern Painted Turtle - Chrysemys
picta. Native. It grows to a shell length of about 6Ó. You
may see yellow markings on the head. This is the turtle you are most
likely to see sunning itself on a rock in our lakes. If you see a turtle
with a red mark on its head, it is probably a Red-eared Slider, a non-native
turtle whose ancestors were dumped in the lake when people tired of them as
pets.
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/species/display.asp?id=030060
Northern Water Snake - Nerodia
sipedon. Native. A large example of this snake will usually look
all black and it will be swimming (hunting fish) or trying to get to the
water. Do not grab even a small example of this snake as it has a
mouthful of sharp, backward pointing, teeth designed to hold fish, and it will
have a hard time letting go of you when it bites to make you let go of
it. They can be aggressive if you corner them, so give them space.
They may look unpleasant but THERE ARE NO POISONOUS WATER SNAKES IN MOUNTAIN
LAKES, or New Jersey for that matter. There is no reason to kill a snake
and certainly none to harm an uncommon water snake in Mountain Lakes.
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/species/display.asp?id=030034
MAMMALS
Muskrat – Ondatra
zibethicus. A large aquatic rodent (but much smaller than beaver) that
burrows into the shores of the lakes. They eat plants, cause some damage
to the shoreline, and produce many offspring, which makes the Snapping Turtles
happy. The following site shows far more than you will ever need to know
about muskrats.
http://my.net-link.net/~vaneselk/muskrat/
There are recipes for
cooking muskrat on that Web site. To the best of our knowledge, no one on
the BoroughÕs Lakes Management Committee has tried them. This is a link to a news report on the
annual Lower Alloways Township Fire Department annual muskrat dinner. http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/01/muskrat_dinner_lower_alloways.html
Muskrats are harmless in
the sense that they wonÕt bother you unless you trap them or threaten their
babies. However, they donÕt get out of the water to go to the bathroom,
so they are one of the reasons we donÕt drink lake water (They can carry Giardia,
but so can dogs.) http://www.hyperionlab.ca/giardia1.html
Raccoons (Procyon lotor)
hunt for freshwater mussels and crayfish from the shallows of our lakes. You
may find empty ÒclamÓ shells or broken crayfish shells in the shallows or on
the shore showing where they fed. (Their scientific name means something
like Òearly dog, the washerÓ referring to their habit of washing their food.)
It is possible that we
have an occasional Mink (Mustela vison) passing through our lakes. They
eat fish, crayfish, Muskrats, and most small creatures.
MACROINVERTEBRATES
This is a partial list of
water creatures that are visible to the unassisted eye and donÕt have
backbones, including insects, crustaceans, and molluscs.
Dragonfly/Damselfly
The insects commonly
called dragonflies are usually larger, strong flyers, whose wings extend
perpendicular to their bodies when they are resting. Their immature stage
(nymph) is large, squat, and can jet forward by expelling water from openings
in the rear of the body. They have extendable jaws to catch their prey.
Damselfly is the name
commonly applied to more slender insects whose wings fold back over the body at
rest. Other than that, they often look much like dragonflies in
flight. The immature stages (nymphs) in the water usually have leaf-like
gills at the end of their bodies and swim by wiggling their bodies.
Dragonfly – Common
Green Darner – Anax junius
This is a big green
dragonfly likely to be seen over our lakes and lawns, but is not the only dragonfly
in Mountain Lakes. (A few years ago I saw three species at Birchwood
Lake, plus damselflies, as I sat by the lake writing this.)
For an illustration of the
complexity of nature, while dragonflies are migrating, they form a food source
for migrating Broadwing Hawks.
Adult:
http://www.njodes.com/Speciesaccts/darners/darn-comm.asp
Dragonfly – Common
Whitetail Skimmer – Platythemis lydia
This is a fairly obvious
creature with its strongly patterned wings.
Adults:
http://www.njodes.com/Speciesaccts/skimmers/whit-comm.asp
The immature insects
(nymphs), dragonflies in particular, in the lakes are great hunters of small
creatures, even tiny fish.
Darner Nymph:
These are relatively large
insects and eat smaller creatures, including tiny fish.
http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/image/59455339
Damselfly – Variable
Dancer – Argia fumipennis
One of the Damselflies you
might see in Mountain Lakes. And for further confusion, newly emerged
adults of a given species may be a different color than older examples and
females of several species (as with Variable Dancers) are a different color
than the males.
Adult:
http://www.njodes.com/Speciesaccts/damsels/danc-vari.asp
Damselfly – Familiar
Bluet – Enallagama civile
Another species you might
see in Mountain Lakes.
Adult:
http://www.njodes.com/Speciesaccts/damsels/blue-fami.asp
Familiar Bluet Nymph:
http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/na/aquatic_insecta/odonata/coenagrionidae_family.htm
Crayfish
In Mountain Lakes, ours
are likely to be Procambarus species. They look like lobsters a few
inches long. Bass love to eat these.
http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/NewAstacidea/species.asp?g=Procambarus&s=acutus&ssp=acutus
Molluscs
There are freshwater
mussels in Mountain Lakes (and twelve native species in New Jersey). The
empty, fragile, dark, ÒclamÓ shells you may find on the shores of the lakes are
likely to be native mussels.
The following site will
give you more information about molluscs in our area than any casual reader
will need. For example, one of the mussels likely to be growing in
Mountain Lakes has to have Yellow Perch in the lake to survive. Their
young must spend time as skin parasites (mostly harmless) on Yellow Perch
before they can grow to older stages. (They canÕt use the skin on most
other fish, much less humans or other creatures.)
http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/fwmussel.html