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Jude, D. J. and S. F. Deboe (1996). Possible impact of gobies and other introduced species on habitat restoration efforts. Pages 136-141 in J. R. M. Kelso, ed. Workshop on the Science and Management for Habitat Conservation and Restoration Strategies (HABCARES) in the Great Lakes, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada), Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

Many fish habitat modifications involve riprap placement on sandy substrate. Because exotic species may be favored, a field experiment was designed to test differences in fish abundance in riprap, sand, and macrophyte-dominated substrate. A 3-m long seine was used to sample areas of sand, riprap and aquatic macrophytes three times during 1994 in the St. Clair River near Algonac, Michigan. Diversity was high, with 24 species of fish collected. Round gobies Neogobius melanostomus were most often collected in riprap and macrophyte habitat, with riprap habitat having a significantly greater mean catch on 16 August. On the other two dates, mean catches were not significantly different between macrophyte and riprap habitat, but both were significantly greater than the mean catch in sandy areas. Densities of tubenose gobies Proterorhinus marmoratus were similar between sandy and macrophyte habitats, but significantly greater in riprap habitat. Gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum, alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, and white perch Morone americana were mostly associated with open water sandy habitat. Zebra mussels Dreissena polymorpha were common on riprap substrate but were rarely seen on sandy substrate.