Community Structure of Lake St. Clair Fishes Based Upon Catchability Studies from 1977 to 1988

Two fish communities, based upon species co-occurrences, were identified in Lake St. Clair. These may be broadly classified as a patchy water community (associated with an abundance of aquatic macrophytes) and an open water community. Centrarchids dominated the patchy water community, while species from the Catostomidae, Percidae, Sciaenidae, and Percichthyidae were most abundant in the open water community. The most ubiquitous species sampled over the 12 years of the study were: channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), and freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens). Species diversity was greatest in the patchy water community, represented by a single collection site, Mitchells Bay. The three more southerly collection sites, St. Lukes, Tremblay Creek, and Puce Creek, had greater similarities in species composition to each other than they did to Mitchells Bay. However, during high water level years, species composition among all collection sites was more similar.