Ohio State News features research led by faculty member Suzanne Gray on algae’s impact on walleye vision recently published in the journal Conservation Physiology. Gray, is an assistant professor of aquatic physiological ecology in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. Vision serves as a primary tool for survival for many fish – leading them to food and away from predators. The study found a decrease of more than 40 percent in the fishes’ ability to see in water clouded by simulated algae as opposed to water equally clouded by sediment. The findings have implications for fish populations living in turbid waters throughout the world, especially those with algal blooms.
Ohio State doctoral student Chelsey Nieman and undergraduate students Andrew Oppliger and Caroline McElwain also worked on the study. The research was supported by Ohio Sea Grant.
Read more about this research in the news release written by Misti Crane here.