Ichthyomyzon Greeleyi - Ecology

Ecology

I. greeleyi inhabit very narrow habitat specifications. They require clear creaks from 1–23 meters wide and 30-60 centimeters deep with silt to pebble substrate. The young (ammocoetes) prefer beds in mixed sand, mud, and organic debris in pools and backwaters, but as the larvae mature and prepare to spawn they move toward small stones and faster moving current. The adults occur in riffles and runs under overhanging bank sod (NatureServe). Competitors for the breeding habitat include Campostoma anomalum anomalum, Moxostoma duquesnii, Notropis cornutus chrysocephalus,Hyborhynchus notatus, and Micropterus dolomieu (Raney). While the non-parasitic adults do not feed, the ammocoetes are filter-feeders and eat microscopic organisms and detritus (Beamish and Austin, Beamish and Medland, and NatureServe). The efficiency of digestion is much higher in the summer for I. greeleyi, leading to more growth in the summer (Beamish and Austin).