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 crysoleucasPossibly 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://cbc.amnh.org/mussel/

http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/fwmussel.html