Abstract

Round gobies are an invasive species that have proliferated throughout the Great Lakes since 1990. Today, anthropogenic forces are causing an increasing number of invasions causing great economic and ecological damage. The round goby invasion, because of its high level of success and recent occurrence, may represent a model system to study the evolutionary dynamics and formation of genetic population structure in novel habitats. Our study is a fine scale examination of the round goby genetic population structure along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.