Data

This dataset includes larval fish catches, species identifications, total length measurements, and relevant covariate data from a larval fish community survey of the U.S. waters of Lake Ontario. Sites were surveyed along a bottom depth gradient of 5 to 225 meters, covering a range of nearshore and offshore habitat between the months of May and July 2024. Vessel and gear descriptions are...

This data set contains Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) egg density estimates obtained from suction sampling across five locations in Lake Ontario. These data were collected in October-November 2020 and November-December 2024 as part of an effort to identify Lake Trout spawning locations and habitat preference in Lake Ontario. Additional information on habitat characteristics at each...

This dataset is associated with an examination of environmental DNA (eDNA) obtained from freshwater matrices (i.e. benthic algae, sediment, and near bottom water) collected by scuba divers from previously established transects located along the U.S. shoreline of Lakes: Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing (i.e., targeting bacterial communities) and high...

This data set includes information on benthic algae community composition collected during the growing season of 2024 at stations located along the U.S. shoreline of Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Benthic algal community observations were taken by scuba divers in the field and by personnel in the lab during sample processing, including detailed microscopic examination of...

Since 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey - Great Lakes Science Center's Lake Erie Biological Station (LEBS) has participated in a collaborative, multiagency effort to assess pelagic prey fish populations in the western (WB), central (CB), and eastern (EB) basins of Lake Erie through a combination of hydroacoustic and midwater trawl sampling. Assessing lake-wide distribution and abundance...

This dataset contains more than 37,000 high-resolution images of natural lake bottom habitats containing round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) captured by autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Round goby are invasive to the Laurentian Great Lakes, but are an important prey item for economically valuable predators, and thus of interest to managers. Individual round goby within each image...

The data being released were part of a project funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). This study sought to identify the bacterial and planktonic communities (cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae) potentially contributing to eutrophication within the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern (AOC) in northern Indiana along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. In 2021...

Data represent physical (water quality) and biological (fish, macroinvertebrate, and vegetation community) collections as indicators for Pool 1A and the Maankiki Marsh North and South units at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Saginaw, MI, USA. The Maankiki North and South units were recently reconnected to the Shiawassee River in 2018, whereas Pool 1A represents a historically

Annual spring (May) and fall (late October through early November) gillnet assessment surveys were conducted by researchers at the USGS Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) in northern Lake Michigan, including the Northern Refuge, between 1998-2024. Total length, weight, sex, maturity, and sea lamprey wounds were recorded for each lake trout and burbot caught in the gill nets. Lake trout...

These data describe demographic, diet contents and associated weights, fullness index, morphometrics (body shape), and meristic (total number of gill rakers) measurements of cisco (Coregonus artedi) collected in Lake Michigan along the eastern shoreline, the Pine River/ Lake Charlevoix Channel, and from three drowned river mouth lakes (Portage Lake, Muskegon Lake, Lake Charlevoix) from...

Acoustic Telemetry is gaining popularity for use in fisheries research as a method to estimate survival and observe behaviors of native fish species. Methodology for capture and tagging of fish is typically context and species-specific, requiring a case by case basis for best practices to maximize survival of tagged individuals. This dataset includes acoustic detection data from 320...

This data set includes information on algae community composition and metadata for fish environmental DNA (eDNA) samples collected along the shoreline of southern Lake Michigan in late August 2024. Washed up, floating, and attached algae were collected along shore and in wadable water. Algal community observations were performed by microscopy to determine primary and secondary dominance...