Fish Traits Database

The need for integrated and widely accessible sources of species traits data to facilitate studies of ecology, conservation, and management has motivated development of traits databases for various taxa. In spite of the increasing number of traits-based analyses of freshwater fishes in the United States, no consolidated database of traits of this group exists publicly, and much useful information on these species is documented only in obscure sources. The largely inaccessible and unconsolidated traits information makes large-scale analysis involving many fishes and/or traits particularly challenging. We have compiled a database of >100 traits for 809 (731 native and 78 nonnative) fish species found in freshwaters of the conterminous United States, including 37 native families and 145 native genera. The database, named FishTraits, contains information on four major categories of traits: (1) trophic ecology, (2) body size and reproductive ecology (including life history), (3) habitat preferences, and (4) salinity and temperature tolerances. Information on geographic distribution and conservation status is also compiled. The database enhances many opportunities for conducting research on fish species traits and constitutes the first step toward establishing a central repository for a continually expanding set of traits of North American fishes.