Neversink River freshwater mussel surveys: 2006-2009

Data are included for two types of field surveys conducted for freshwater mussels within the Neversink River in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Timed search (qualitative) surveys were conducted in consecutive ~200 meter sections of river in 2006 and 2007; a subset of these sections were re-surveyed qualitatively in 2009. The number of mussels of each species and associated search time were recorded for each survey section to determine a catch per unit effort (CPUE; number of individuals found per person hour). Within the 2009 qualitatively surveyed areas, ten ~200 meter sections of stream were selected in which to conduct quantitative surveys to estimate mussel abundance. Quantitative survey methods follow those explained in Galbraith et al. 2016. Briefly, an imaginary grid was superimposed over each section of river, consisting of a varying number of columns and rows (depending on river width and section length). The intersection of each column a row defined a cell within the survey area. Within each cell, 4 individual random starts (quadrats) were surveyed.