Quote Originally Posted by Steven View Post
I think mysis were tranplanted there to support fish life in the man-made reservoirs. I think they're are also present in the reservoirs and tailwaters of Arkansas.
Mysis shrimp were introduced into a number of lakes in NW Montana in the early 80's and, in conjunction with a growth in the lake trout populations, decimated the cutthroat and kokanee salmon in Flathead Lake. The decision to introduce the shrimp into Whitefish and Swan Lake (and by default Flathead which these lakes flow into) was based on observations from a very small and skewed sample in a lake in British Columbia where kokanee salmon experienced, initially, a surge in size and numbers after the mysis were introduced (but then crashed as the shrimp began to compete with salmon fry for food). The shrimp moved to the top of the water column during the day, making them available to fish like cutthroats/kokanee.
What the folks didn't realize was that this lake was the exception to the norm, and the Montana mysis (usually photosensitive) stayed deep during the day (where the lakers could get to them), and came up at night, when the cutts/kokes didn't feed.
As a side note, the kokanees used to run up the Flathead River into Glacier National Park in the fall, and were feasted on by large numbers of bald eagles; when the kokes disappeared most of the eagles vacated the premises (many moved across the Rockies to the Missouri). I was lucky enough to see the tail end of a kokanee run in the late 80's up by Apgar in GNP; about 20 bald eagles in/around McDonald Creek - cool, but nothing like the numbers had been previously.

Regards,
Scott