Round Goby Behavior across Invasion Range

Zoe Almeida, Angelica Melero, Elizabeth Guzman, Liz Lange (SUNY Oswego)

Individuals that lead invasion fronts may behave differently from individuals in established populations, with more exploratory and less social individuals leading the spread. This behavioral difference may be informative in designing methods to prevent, monitor, and remove invasive species. Round Goby continue to successfully spread throughout New York State waters, which has provided an opportunity to evaluate if Round Goby behaviors differ among more established populations (Lake Ontario & Oneida Lake) and recently invaded lakes (Seneca Lake). CBFS summer interns, Angelica and Elizabeth led the sampling of these systems with four different gear types (beach seines, minnow traps, trot lines, and camera traps) evaluating densities and size differences and then conducted behavioral experiments on female gobies at CBFS. Angelica and Elizabeth have continued to work on this project for their honors theses, which will be submitted in spring 2026.