CONOVER, Wis. — Four years after they invaded the Gile Flowage, spiny water fleas have shown up in Vilas County’s Stormy Lake.
The exotic invaders hadn’t been found in any other Wisconsin inland lake until their discovery last week.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Trout Lake station found the water fleas while monitoring the Vilas County lake for other types of zooplankton. The tiny animals are important because they form the basis of food chains in lakes.