These data contain morphometric measurements collected on the left side of Cisco (Coregonus artedi) collected from Lake Ontario in 2018. Measurements were obtained by two methods, first by direct measurements made on the thawed specimens using a hand caliper by one person, then using a digital image technique. The digital image measurements were completed by two different measurers to evaluate how reproducible measurements extracted from digital images were between the two measurers.

These data contain morphometric measurements collected on the left side of Cisco (Coregonus artedi) collected from Lake Ontario in 2018. Measurements were obtained by two methods, first by direct measurements made on the thawed specimens using a hand caliper by one person, then using a digital image technique. The digital image measurements were completed by two different measurers to evaluate how reproducible measurements extracted from digital images were between the two measurers.

These data describe morphometric (body shape) measurements of wild and artificially reared (i.e., raised in a laboratory or fish hatchery) cisco (Coregonus artedi) from lakes Huron and Ontario in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Specifically, this data release includes traditional morphometric data (i.e., measurements of fish specimens) describing wild and artificially reared cisco from Lake Huron, as well as geometric morphometric data (i.e., landmarks placed on images of fish) describing cisco head shapes for wild and artificially reared cisco from both lakes Huron and Ontario. Artificially reared individuals from Lake Huron were raised at the U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor, MI, USA, and one family of offspring were split among three rearing temperature treatments. Artificially reared individuals from Lake Ontario were raised at the Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science in Cortland, NY, USA. These data were collected by the authors on this data release from 2017-2023 and used to analyze the impacts of artificial rearing on cisco body shapes, with a focus on head shapes.

These data describe morphometric (body shape) measurements of wild and artificially reared (i.e., raised in a laboratory or fish hatchery) cisco (Coregonus artedi) from lakes Huron and Ontario in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Specifically, this data release includes traditional morphometric data (i.e., measurements of fish specimens) describing wild and artificially reared cisco from Lake Huron, as well as geometric morphometric data (i.e., landmarks placed on images of fish) describing cisco head shapes for wild and artificially reared cisco from both lakes Huron and Ontario. Artificially reared individuals from Lake Huron were raised at the U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor, MI, USA, and one family of offspring were split among three rearing temperature treatments. Artificially reared individuals from Lake Ontario were raised at the Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science in Cortland, NY, USA. These data were collected by the authors on this data release from 2017-2023 and used to analyze the impacts of artificial rearing on cisco body shapes, with a focus on head shapes.

This dataset contains morphological information for Ciscoes (Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys) collected from the Great Lakes as part of the "Great Lakes Cisco Project". The project was initiated in 1950 by Stanford H. Smith, who was a Fishery Research Biologist in the then U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The dataset includes 16 morphometrics (linear measurements) and one meristic (count of gill rakers) for Ciscoes, together with biological data (i.e., length, weight, sex, and maturity), sampling location, and date of collection. Consult Koelz (1929) and the "Morphology of Ciscoes" section in Eshenroder et al. (2016) for descriptions of how measurements and counts were made in the then "Ann Arbor Laboratory" of U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. References Eshenroder, R. L., P. Vecsei, N. E. Mandrak, D. L. Yule, O. T. Gorman, T. C. Pratt, D. B. Bunnell, and A. M. Muir. 2016. Ciscoes (Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys) of the Laurentian Great Lakes and Lake Nipigon. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Miscellaneous Publication 2016-1, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Koelz, W. N. 1929. Coregonid fishes of the Great Lakes. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, 43(2), 297–643.

This data release presents part of historical fisheries-dependent data for Cisco (Coregonus artedi) in Green Bay of Lake Michigan and Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron collected by scientists from U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center, including three tables for monthly Cisco-catch and fishing-effort data and two tables for biological data of Cisco individuals. The monthly Cisco-catch and fishing-effort data tables are for small-mesh gill-net fisheries in Green Bay and Saginaw Bay (GBSB_GN.csv), pound-net fisheries in Green Bay and Saginaw Bay (GBSB_PD.csv), and shallow trap-net fishery in Saginaw Bay (SB_ST.csv) in the period 1929–1970.

The biological data of Cisco individuals are from historical Saginaw Bay Cisco scale collections of 1942,1945, 1946, 1948, and 1953. These Ciscoes were caught by commercial trap-net fishing carried out by Bay Port Fish Company, located in Bay Port, Michigan. The table “SB_Scale_Collection.csv” includes data associated with the commercial trap-net fishing operations. The table “SB_Scale_Bio.csv” includes biological data (length, weight, sex, maturity) recorded on scale envelopes, and age (i.e., number of annuli on the scale) and back-calculated total length at annulus formation for a subset of these fish samples.

For questions about availability and physical and digital access for the historical fisheries-dependent data collected by scientists from the Great Lakes Science Center, reach out to the Science Center.

The following data release contains coordinates for suspected historical spawning locations of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and cisco (Coregonus artedi) across the Lake Ontario basin, including the Niagara River and St. Lawrence River. These data were gathered from published and unpublished sources cited in the Atlas of the Spawning and Nursery Areas of Great Lakes Fishes (Goodyear et al. 1982) and other sources as described. We define "spawning locations" as areas having eggs or spawning fish present. When available the data also contain substrate and depth information. Pseudo-absence data used for comparison purposes are also provided in this data release. Data points were summarized using ArcGIS 10.5

The GIS layer "Census_sum_15" provides a standardized tool for examining spatial patterns in abundance and demographic trends of the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), based on data collected during the spring 2015 range-wide census. The USGS range-wide sea otter census has been undertaken twice a year since 1982, once in May and once in October, using consistent methodology involving both ground-based and aerial-based counts. The spring census is considered more accurate than the fall count, and provides the primary basis for gauging population trends by State and Federal management agencies. This Shape file includes a series of summary statistics derived from the raw census data, including sea otter density (otters per square km of habitat), linear density (otters per km of coastline), relative pup abundance (ratio of pups to independent animals) and 5-year population trend (calculated as exponential rate of change). All statistics are calculated and plotted for small sections of habitat in order to illustrate local variation in these statistics across the entire mainland distribution of sea otters in California (as of 2015). Sea otter habitat is considered to extend offshore from the mean low tide line and out to the 60m isobath: this depth range includes over 99% of sea otter feeding dives, based on dive-depth data from radio tagged sea otters (Tinker et al 2006, 2007). Sea otter distribution in California (the mainland range) is considered to comprise this band of potential habitat stretching along the coast of California, and bounded to the north and south by range limits defined as "the points farthest from the range center at which 5 or more otters are counted within a 10km contiguous stretch of coastline (as measured along the 10m bathymetric contour) during the two most recent spring censuses, or at which these same criteria were met in the previous year". The polygon corresponding to the range definition was then sub-divided into onshore/offshore strips roughly 500 meters in width. The boundaries between these strips correspond to ATOS (As-The-Otter-Swims) points, which are arbitrary locations established approximately every 500 meters along a smoothed 5 fathom bathymetric contour (line) offshore of the State of California.

This dataset includes information about valley segment and catchment summaries, valley characteristics, instream habitat, and fish for valley segments, sites, and transects along four river mainstems in Ontario, Canada. Moving west to east, the rivers include the Grand River which ends in Lake Erie at Port Maitland, the Ganaraska River which ends in Lake Ontario at Port Hope, the Trent River which ends in the Bay of Quinte at Trenton, and the Petawawa River which ends in the Ottawa River at Petawawa. These rivers vary in natural character, anthropogenic development, and fish assemblages. Riverine sites along the mainstems of all four rivers included a total of one hundred and twelve sites. Sampling on the Grand, Trent, and Petawawa Rivers focused on non-wadeable lower river mainstems, whereas all sites on the Ganaraska River mainstem were wadeable and incorporated a wider range of stream sizes. Sites were sampled between 1997 and 2001, with many sites sampled in multiple years. The study design for the Grand, Trent, and Petawawa Rivers include a hierarchical design where data collection was nested at three spatial scales -- shoreline and channel transect data are nested within sites, and sites are nested within valley segments. In the Ganaraska River, data collection was by site and nested within valley segments. A complementary set of shapefiles for each river supports these tabular data and provides items needed to map watersheds, valley segments, and sites, and to calculate additional variables for sites and site catchments. The metadata specific to these spatial data is associated with the shapefiles and is not described here.

This dataset includes information about valley segment and catchment summaries, valley characteristics, instream habitat, and fish for valley segments, sites, and transects along four river mainstems in Ontario, Canada. Moving west to east, the rivers include the Grand River which ends in Lake Erie at Port Maitland, the Ganaraska River which ends in Lake Ontario at Port Hope, the Trent River which ends in the Bay of Quinte at Trenton, and the Petawawa River which ends in the Ottawa River at Petawawa. These rivers vary in natural character, anthropogenic development, and fish assemblages. Riverine sites along the mainstems of all four rivers included a total of one hundred and twelve sites. Sampling on the Grand, Trent, and Petawawa Rivers focused on non-wadeable lower river mainstems, whereas all sites on the Ganaraska River mainstem were wadeable and incorporated a wider range of stream sizes. Sites were sampled between 1997 and 2001, with many sites sampled in multiple years. The study design for the Grand, Trent, and Petawawa Rivers include a hierarchical design where data collection was nested at three spatial scales -- shoreline and channel transect data are nested within sites, and sites are nested within valley segments. In the Ganaraska River, data collection was by site and nested within valley segments. A complementary set of shapefiles for each river supports these tabular data and provides items needed to map watersheds, valley segments, and sites, and to calculate additional variables for sites and site catchments. The metadata specific to these spatial data is associated with the shapefiles and is not described here.