Freshwater and Lagoon

Little study has been carried out on the freshwater flora and fauna on the reserve.

Sticklebacks and small trout have been records in the Scouncel stream that runs through the northern end of the lake and enteres the lagoon in its north eastern corner. This stream has suffered numerous pollution incidents over the years including diesel and oil and slurry. As a result its fauna may be very poor. Water has also been extracted from the stream on many occasions and its effect on the flora and fauna is unknown. We would hope to have a complete survey carried out at some stage in the future.

The following data is abstracted from Galvin (1992).

Amphipods in Cuskinny Lagoon
Below is an extract from PhD ‘Seasonal changes and biological classification of Irish coastal lagoons.’ by Geoff. A. Oliver (2005)

Geoff has visited Cuskinny on a number of occasions and as you will read below he discovered a Corophium species new to Ireland in the lagoon.

Corophium insidiosum Amphipod crustacean recorded for the first time in Ireland at three lagoons in Co. Cork (Rostellan, Cuskinny, Rosscarbery), following Pinkster’s prediction (1978) that it would be found in Ireland. These records from Co. Cork are of very high conservation interest.

Leptocheirus pilosus Amphipod crustacean recorded at three lagoons in Co. Cork (Rostellan, Cuskinny, and Rosscarbery), in association with C. insidiosum and also at L. Athola, Co. Galway and Furnace L., Co. Mayo. The only other known Irish localities are the south side of Wexford Harbour (Costello et al. 1989) and on the North Slob, Co. Wexford (Galvin 1992). Proposed as a lagoonal specialist for Ireland by Oliver and Healy (1998).

Allomelita pellucida. Amphipod crustacean recorded at Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow, five sites in Cork (Cuskinny, Kilkeran, Lissagriffin, Farranamanagh, Reenydonegan) and in Furnace L., Co. Mayo. The only previous records are for L. Hyne and Glengarriff in Co. Cork and Furnace L. (Costello et al. 1989) and in L. Beg, Co. Cork (Galvin 1992). Proposed as a lagoonal specialist for Ireland by Oliver and Healy (1998).

Fish
According to the South-western Regional Fisheries Board, Trout occur in the lake. However, no Trout have been recorded in the Ballyleary Stream since the early 1970s. Galvin (1992) recorded Eel and Common Goby in the lake. Large numbers of young and adult Thick-lipped Grey Mullet have been recorded in the lake as well as small to medium sized flatfish, probably Flounder. Sticklebacks occur in Ballyleary Stream.

Amphibians
Common Frogs are recorded from the reserve. The Common Frog is listed as ‘Internationally Important’ in the Red Data Book (Whilde, 1993).

Crustaceans
In summer, large numbers of shrimps (probably Palaemonetes varians), can be observed in the lake and these shrimps can also occur in the Ballyleary Stream well upstream of the lake.

Lagoon Species Recorded by Susan Lettice (2007) and Noel Howley (2008). Both UCC Students.

If you have any records of aquatic species at Cuskinny please send the records to: info@cuskinnynaturereserve.com