The St. Clair River delta, part of the St. Clair-Detroit River System (SCDRS), is the most fished coastal wetland area in the Laurentian Great Lakes and provides nursery habitat for a variety of fish species; however, few large-scale surveys of early fish life stages have been performed since the 1980s. Larval fish, zooplankton, and aquatic plants were sampled at 21 sites in delta channels and backwaters of the St. Clair-Detroit River System (SCDRS; USA/CAN) from May to July in 2010 and 2011 to characterize the habitats and resources used by larval fish in the delta. Larval fish were captured using conical nets and light traps, and diets from larval white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) were collected at three sites.

Crustacean zooplankton were collected, enumerated, identified, and measured within the St. Clair-Detroit River System (SCDRS). Collections were made using a 0.5 m diameter 153 um zooplankton net. Nets were lowered to ~0.5 m from bottom depth and retrieved. Nets were utilized with a General Oceanics flowmeter to calculate the distance the net traveled. At sites of collection, both temperature (degrees C) and Secchi depth (m) were collected for abiotic influencing factors of the zooplankton community. Collected specimens were narcotized in sugar formalin. Specimens were enumerated, identified, and measured under a dissection microscope. Volumetric estimates (m^-3) were obtained by applying the distance traveled and the area of the net. Abundances and biomasses were estimated based on the average length of a group of organisms and the samples estimated to be within a collected sample, and then the average estimated weight of an individual from length-weight regressions. This is a revised version of a data release. For details on changes, please see the “version-history.txt” document in the attached files. All previous versions are available from the author. First posted - March 23, 2018 (available from author) Revised - April 24, 2018 (version 1.1) Revised - November 18, 2020 (version 1.2)

This dataset contains data collected on various vessel operations on the Great Lakes and their connecting channels, primarily the St. Clair River, St. Marys River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie, although other locations have been sampled and included in this dataset. This dataset contains the field variables, environmental conditions, larval catches (numbers), larval fish identifications, larval fish measurements, and associated auxiliary information with the sampling locations.

This dataset contains data collected on various vessel operations on the Great Lakes and their connecting channels, primarily the St. Clair River, St. Marys River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and Lake Erie, although other locations have been sampled and included in this dataset. This dataset contains the field variables, environmental conditions, larval catches (numbers), larval fish identifications, larval fish measurements, and associated auxiliary information with the sampling locations.

This dataset contains data collected on various vessel operations on the Great Lakes and their connecting channels, primarily the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and western Lake Erie, although other locations have been sampled and included in this dataset. This dataset contains the field variables, environmental conditions, larval catches (numbers), larval fish identifications, and associated auxiliary information with the sampling locations.

This dataset contains data collected on various vessel operations on the Great Lakes and their connecting channels, primarily the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, and western Lake Erie, although other locations have been sampled and included in this dataset. This dataset contains the field variables, environmental conditions, larval catches (numbers), larval fish identifications, and associated auxiliary information with the sampling locations.

These data contain counts of fish species collected with a 1.83 m x 9.14 m bag seine constructed of 1.6 mm Delta nylon mesh. When permitted, five consecutive 15.25 m hauls were made parallel to the shoreline. Sites with smaller shorelines were sampled to the greatest extent possible and distance recorded. The seine was pulled in the upstream direction to allow the net to stay open during sampling. Following each haul, fish were sorted by species and counted. Macrophyte community characteristics (percent cover and species) were assessed by visually approximating the proportion of sites occupied by each species. A rake was used to collect vegetation for lab verification of species identification. Other habitat features including shoreline vegetation types, water temperature and bottom substrate types were also recorded.

These data contain counts of fish species collected with a 1.83 m x 9.14 m bag seine constructed of 1.6 mm Delta nylon mesh. When permitted, five consecutive 15.25 m hauls were made parallel to the shoreline. Sites with smaller shorelines were sampled to the greatest extent possible and distance recorded. The seine was pulled in the upstream direction to allow the net to stay open during sampling. Following each haul, fish were sorted by species and counted. Macrophyte community characteristics (percent cover and species) were assessed by visually approximating the proportion of sites occupied by each species. A rake was used to collect vegetation for lab verification of species identification. Other habitat features including shoreline vegetation types, water temperature and bottom substrate types were also recorded.

These data consist of larval fish and water profile data collected with a nearshore to offshore transect approach at 9 transects throughout Lake Huron. Larval fish and their stomach contents were identified, enumerated, and measured (if possible) using a dissecting microscope. These data were used to calculate densities of potential fish prey items (what is available in the environment) and compare that to what the fishes ate for selectivity analysis. Larval fish age estimation based on daily growth rings from otoliths was also conducted. These data are in raw form. The water profile data were collected using a bathythermograph and bin-averaged at the 1 m level. Environmental prey data are available at the following address: https://doi.org/10.5066/p9bnqppm.

The U.S Geological Survey conducted hydrographic surveys from September 13-16, 2021 to monitor fish spawning substrate placements (reefs) in the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, MI. A multibeam echosounder was used from the Great Lakes Science Center research vessel Cisco to collect hydrographic data. These data were used to generate maps of river bottom topography in locations where spawning substrates have been placed. The reefs surveyed in the Detroit River included: Fort Wayne, New (East) Belle Isle, Belle Isle, and Grassy Island. The reefs surveyed in the St. Clair River included: Middle Channel, Pointe Aux Chenes, and Harts Light. The data for each study reach were produced in LAS format supported by most geospatial software.