Fish occurrence data to support high-resolution distribution models and test various community and macroecological hypotheses have not been available at the national scale. We present IchthyMaps, a database of high-quality historical fish occurrences covering fishes of the conterminous United States. Designed on the principles of metacommunity ecology, IchthyMaps is a compilation of presence records from atlases up to 1990, at the resolution of the 1:100,000 National Hydrography Database Plus (NHDPlus) inter-confluence stream segment, readily aggregated into hierarchically coarser units (e.g. hydrologic unit code 8-digit and 12-digit watersheds). IchthyMaps contains about 606,550 presence records for 1,038 species and subspecies. These presence records occurred on 224,305 NHDPlus interconfluence stream segments, representing > 10% average sampling intensity. IchthyMaps is publicly accessible through USGS' ScienceBase infrastructure. It offers unprecedented opportunities for both basic and applied research and conservation initiatives in areas such as studying biogeography, gap analysis, and assessments of impacts of land use, species invasions, and climate change. More generally, this database broadens our capability to conduct research on fish ecology, biogeography, and management.

Community composition data from multi-pass electrofishing surveys for assessing fish populations in headwater streams of the Adirondack Mountains, New York, USA. Each row represents one individual fish. This spreadsheet contains 11 columns. The first 7 columns describe the data (year collected, local site ID, stream name, latitude, longitude, USGS site number, and electrofishing pass number) and the remaining 4 columns describe each individual fish (common name, scientific name, total length (mm) and weight (g)). These data support the following publication: Baldigo, B.P., Sporn, L.A., George, S.D., and Ball, Jacob, in press. Efficacy of environmental DNA to detect and quantify Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis, populations in streams of the Adirondack Mountains, New York. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. na, na; http://dx.doi.org/10.1577/.

Community composition data from multi-pass electrofishing surveys for assessing fish populations in headwater streams of the Adirondack Mountains, New York, USA. Each row represents one individual fish. This spreadsheet contains 11 columns. The first 7 columns describe the data (year collected, local site ID, stream name, latitude, longitude, USGS site number, and electrofishing pass number) and the remaining 4 columns describe each individual fish (common name, scientific name, total length (mm) and weight (g)). These data support the following publication: Baldigo, B.P., Sporn, L.A., George, S.D., and Ball, Jacob, in press. Efficacy of environmental DNA to detect and quantify Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis, populations in streams of the Adirondack Mountains, New York. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. na, na; http://dx.doi.org/10.1577/.

This dataset represents results from this study attributed to the NHDPlus catchments. Human impacts occurring throughout the Northeast United StatesDOI Northeast Climate Science Center, including urbanization, agriculture, and dams, have multiple effects on the region’s streams which support economically valuable stream fishes. Changes in climate are expected to lead to additional impacts in stream habitats and fish assemblages in multiple ways, including changing stream water temperatures. To manage streams for current impacts and future changes, managers need region-wide information for decision-making and developing proactive management strategies. Our project met that need by integrating results of a current condition assessment of stream habitats based on fish response to human land use, water quality impairment, and fragmentation by dams with estimates of which stream habitats may change in the future. Results are available for all streams in the NE CSC region through a spatially-explicit, web-based viewer (FishTail). With this tool, managers can evaluate how streams of interest are currently impacted by land uses and assess if those habitats may change with climate. These results, available in a comparable way throughout the NE CSC, provide natural resource managers, decision-makers, and the public with a wealth of information to better protect and conserve stream fishes and their habitats. These data are integrated into a web-based decision support viewer (FishTail): 1) current condition of streams determined from disturbances limiting stream fishes, 2) future conditions resulting from changes in climate, and, 3) changes in water temperature for key locations resulting from climate changes for all streams of the NE CSC region. The report that documents these data is: Daniel, W., N. Sievert, D. Infante, J. Whittier, J. Stewart, C. Paukert, and K. Herreman. 2016. A decision support mapper for conserving stream fish habitats of the Northeast Climate Science Center region. Final Report to the US Geological Survey, Northeast Climate Science Center, Amherst, MA.

This dataset represents results from this study attributed to the NHDPlus stream reach segments. Human impacts occurring throughout the Northeast United StatesDOI Northeast Climate Science Center, including urbanization, agriculture, and dams, have multiple effects on the region’s streams which support economically valuable stream fishes. Changes in climate are expected to lead to additional impacts in stream habitats and fish assemblages in multiple ways, including changing stream water temperatures. To manage streams for current impacts and future changes, managers need region-wide information for decision-making and developing proactive management strategies. Our project met that need by integrating results of a current condition assessment of stream habitats based on fish response to human land use, water quality impairment, and fragmentation by dams with estimates of which stream habitats may change in the future. Results are available for all streams in the NE CSC region through a spatially-explicit, web-based viewer (FishTail). With this tool, managers can evaluate how streams of interest are currently impacted by land uses and assess if those habitats may change with climate. These results, available in a comparable way throughout the NE CSC, provide natural resource managers, decision-makers, and the public with a wealth of information to better protect and conserve stream fishes and their habitats. These data are integrated into a web-based decision support viewer (FishTail): 1) current condition of streams determined from disturbances limiting stream fishes, 2) future conditions resulting from changes in climate, and, 3) changes in water temperature for key locations resulting from climate changes for all streams of the NE CSC region. The report that documents these data is: Daniel, W., N. Sievert, D. Infante, J. Whittier, J. Stewart, C. Paukert, and K. Herreman. 2016. A decision support mapper for conserving stream fish habitats of the Northeast Climate Science Center region. Final Report to the US Geological Survey, Northeast Climate Science Center, Amherst, MA.

This dataset represents results from this study attributed to the NHDPlus catchments. Human impacts occurring throughout the Northeast United StatesDOI Northeast Climate Science Center, including urbanization, agriculture, and dams, have multiple effects on the region’s streams which support economically valuable stream fishes. Changes in climate are expected to lead to additional impacts in stream habitats and fish assemblages in multiple ways, including changing stream water temperatures. To manage streams for current impacts and future changes, managers need region-wide information for decision-making and developing proactive management strategies. Our project met that need by integrating results of a current condition assessment of stream habitats based on fish response to human land use, water quality impairment, and fragmentation by dams with estimates of which stream habitats may change in the future. Results are available for all streams in the NE CSC region through a spatially-explicit, web-based viewer (FishTail). With this tool, managers can evaluate how streams of interest are currently impacted by land uses and assess if those habitats may change with climate. These results, available in a comparable way throughout the NE CSC, provide natural resource managers, decision-makers, and the public with a wealth of information to better protect and conserve stream fishes and their habitats. These data are integrated into a web-based decision support viewer (FishTail): 1) current condition of streams determined from disturbances limiting stream fishes, 2) future conditions resulting from changes in climate, and, 3) changes in water temperature for key locations resulting from climate changes for all streams of the NE CSC region. The report that documents these data is: Daniel, W., N. Sievert, D. Infante, J. Whittier, J. Stewart, C. Paukert, and K. Herreman. 2016. A decision support mapper for conserving stream fish habitats of the Northeast Climate Science Center region. Final Report to the US Geological Survey, Northeast Climate Science Center, Amherst, MA.

This dataset represents results from this study attributed to the NHDPlus catchments. Human impacts occurring throughout the Northeast United StatesDOI Northeast Climate Science Center, including urbanization, agriculture, and dams, have multiple effects on the region’s streams which support economically valuable stream fishes. Changes in climate are expected to lead to additional impacts in stream habitats and fish assemblages in multiple ways, including changing stream water temperatures. To manage streams for current impacts and future changes, managers need region-wide information for decision-making and developing proactive management strategies. Our project met that need by integrating results of a current condition assessment of stream habitats based on fish response to human land use, water quality impairment, and fragmentation by dams with estimates of which stream habitats may change in the future. Results are available for all streams in the NE CSC region through a spatially-explicit, web-based viewer (FishTail). With this tool, managers can evaluate how streams of interest are currently impacted by land uses and assess if those habitats may change with climate. These results, available in a comparable way throughout the NE CSC, provide natural resource managers, decision-makers, and the public with a wealth of information to better protect and conserve stream fishes and their habitats. These data are integrated into a web-based decision support viewer (FishTail): 1) current condition of streams determined from disturbances limiting stream fishes, 2) future conditions resulting from changes in climate, and, 3) changes in water temperature for key locations resulting from climate changes for all streams of the NE CSC region. The report that documents these data is: Daniel, W., N. Sievert, D. Infante, J. Whittier, J. Stewart, C. Paukert, and K. Herreman. 2016. A decision support mapper for conserving stream fish habitats of the Northeast Climate Science Center region. Final Report to the US Geological Survey, Northeast Climate Science Center, Amherst, MA.

This dataset represents results from this study attributed to the NHDPlus stream reach segments. Human impacts occurring throughout the Northeast United StatesDOI Northeast Climate Science Center, including urbanization, agriculture, and dams, have multiple effects on the region’s streams which support economically valuable stream fishes. Changes in climate are expected to lead to additional impacts in stream habitats and fish assemblages in multiple ways, including changing stream water temperatures. To manage streams for current impacts and future changes, managers need region-wide information for decision-making and developing proactive management strategies. Our project met that need by integrating results of a current condition assessment of stream habitats based on fish response to human land use, water quality impairment, and fragmentation by dams with estimates of which stream habitats may change in the future. Results are available for all streams in the NE CSC region through a spatially-explicit, web-based viewer (FishTail). With this tool, managers can evaluate how streams of interest are currently impacted by land uses and assess if those habitats may change with climate. These results, available in a comparable way throughout the NE CSC, provide natural resource managers, decision-makers, and the public with a wealth of information to better protect and conserve stream fishes and their habitats. These data are integrated into a web-based decision support viewer (FishTail): 1) current condition of streams determined from disturbances limiting stream fishes, 2) future conditions resulting from changes in climate, and, 3) changes in water temperature for key locations resulting from climate changes for all streams of the NE CSC region. The report that documents these data is: Daniel, W., N. Sievert, D. Infante, J. Whittier, J. Stewart, C. Paukert, and K. Herreman. 2016. A decision support mapper for conserving stream fish habitats of the Northeast Climate Science Center region. Final Report to the US Geological Survey, Northeast Climate Science Center, Amherst, MA.

This data release includes the results of state agency led electrofishing surveys conducted in lotic habitats in six states in the Northeastern U.S.: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The following state agencies collected the electrofishing data: Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game. The survey results are consolidated to a Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC)12 scale and includes surveys from November 1949 through December 2021 with most surveys occurring between 1985 and 2021. Fifty-three species and 24,553 surveys are represented in these data.

This USGS data release documents presence and absences of 419 fish species in the conterminous United States for 35,918 stream reaches of the National Hydrography Dataset Plus Version 2.1 (NHDPlusV2.1). Sample dates for this dataset span 1990-2019. Fish samples were aligned to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), where each species record was assigned a Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN). The dataset is structured with records representing a stream reach (i.e. comid), sample description (i.e. source, date) and a series of 419 columns representing species where each species column is named as the TSN. Data can be visualized on the NHDPlusV2.1 after a tabular join using the field 'comid' or can be projected and visualized as point data using the latitude and longitude fields (using coordinate reference system NAD83) that represent the midpoint of the stream reach that they were associated with. Data are provided in comma separated value (CSV) format.