Occurrence of the Deepwater Sculpin ( Myoxocephalus thompsoni) in Western Lake Erie

Reported here is the collection of two specimens of deepwater sculpin ( Myoxocephalus thompsoni) from Ohio waters of western Lake Erie in 1995. Both specimens were collected while sampling for pelagic walleye ( Stizostedion vitreum) larvae. A 15.0-mm TL deepwater sculpin larva was collected over Toussaint Reef on 29 April 1995 and a 17.0-mm TL juvenile was collected west of South Bass Island State Park on 12 May 1995. It appears that there are no references to collections of deepwater sculpins from western Lake Erie in the literature or from communications with local management agency personnel. While these young deepwater sculpin may have come from ballast water or from a reproducing population in Lake Erie, the collection of 21 deepwater sculpin (12 to 19 mm TL) in the St. Clair River in May 1990 provides evidence of downstream transport from Lake Huron where indigenous populations exist.