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A Sudden Mortality of Fishes Accompanying a Supersaturation of Oxygen in Lake Waubesa, Wisconsin
Author(s) -
Woodbury Lowell A.
Publication year - 1942
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1941)71[112:asmofa]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fish kill , fish <actinopterygii> , pike , gill , fish mortality , fishery , esox , biology , bloom , algal bloom , ecology , phytoplankton , nutrient
A heavy loss of fish occurred during April 1940, in the south end of Lake Waubesa, Wisconsin, and in the Yahara River below the lake. The fish affected were mainly black crappies, although bluegills, northern pike, yellow pikeperch, common suckers, and carp, were killed to a lesser extent. A heavy algal bloom composed principally of Chlamydomonas was concentrated in the area of fish loss and was accompanied by an extremely high (30–32 p.p.m.) oxygen content in the surface water. Characteristic lesions were present in the fish and consisted primarily of gas emboli in the gill capillaries and gas bubbles in the subcutaneous tissues. Death of the fish was attributed to the blocking of the circulation through the gills by the gas bubbles with consequent respiratory failure. A suggestion is made that oxygen was the gas forming the bubbles.