USGS Searchable Database of Nonindigenous Aquatic Organisms

I was just wondering if there was a comprehensive resource that would allow viewing introduced organisms by specific criteria such as how they got introduced, whether they've become established or not, where they are, etc. Via http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/ linked in the sticky in this forum, I came across the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species site: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/ . Two pages in particular that are really interesting:

• Start page for all database tools: http://nas.er.usgs.g...es/default.aspx
• Advanced Database Search: http://nas.er.usgs.g...s/SpSearch.aspx

The advanced search is really cool in that you can search on combinations of criteria such as Pathway of Introduction and State. For example, species in Vermont introduced via bait releases. You can then drill down and get more info, point maps of where the species has been found, etc. Exactly what I was looking for.

I see now that this has been posted before, but perhaps a moderator could add it as a sticky in this forum? Like so many governmental websites the invasivespeciesinfo.gov site is not especially easy to navigate, and it's certainly possible folks heading there won't find the USGS site link. The USGS site is much more directly relevant to our subject matter, anyway.

I agree, it should have been pinned 3 years ago... So I'll pin this one now.

Thanks. Quite a wealth of info there as you poke around. For example, currently 176 separate records of red-bellied pacu from all over the country, most of them assumed to be aquarium releases. If 176 have been been recaptured and reported, you'd have to suspect that there have been hundreds if not thousands of release events. Wow.

Edited by jase, 29 March 2010 - 05:13 PM.

Yeah, a student of mine caught a red pacu in the Tennessee River south of Huntsville, and we didn't report it. It was a keeper by any standard!

Great information to have pinned. I've got two records in there myself. Reporting invasions or expansions of non-natives is a great thing our group can do to help this website get information out and available ASAP.

They update things pretty quickly too. The rainbow darters we found last May are already included. Noticed they are aware of the Genesee River drainage but I have found them in two other spots off the Genesee I don't see reported. I'll have to check my collecting records and report those as well.

Reporting invasions or expansions of non-natives is a great thing our group can do to help this website get information out and available ASAP.

Especially since we're out there with nets that will pick up smaller species that don't get caught on hook-and-line, AND we have at least some ability to recognize species that don't belong. I'd assume that smaller, more common aquarium fish get released with greater frequency than red-bellied pacu, but anglers don't catch them and they aren't so interesting to report when they do show up. I'm sure the fact that pacu are often misidentified as piranhas means they get reported disproportionately more often than other species. That's especially true given that many of the reports are gleaned from local newspapers: Catching something that looks like a piranha makes the news -- catching a stray molly or rudd doesn't.

Great information to have pinned. I've got two records in there myself. Reporting invasions or expansions of non-natives is a great thing our group can do to help this website get information out and available ASAP.

I've put in couple of range extensions on brown hoplo cats (Hoplosternum littorale), which has tremendously expanded its range in Florida since the first established population was discovered in 1995 .... it now covers 2/3rds of the state below the panhandle. The speed of its progress, and ability to move into new drainages, has been startling, at least to me. The first time I reported it they asked me to bring in a specimen to confirm the ID (I'm pretty close to the USGS-NAS lab), and Dr. Nico said "yep, that's littorale all right."

The folks at USGS-NAS are careful and they do very good work.

If you catch exotic species in new places, take good pictures and/or keep specimens, and report them via the on-line reporting tool. We can't all be serious full-time scientists, but this is something we can do, because a lot of time we know when we find something that's not supposed to be there ... and it's easy.

Great information to have pinned. I've got two records in there myself. Reporting invasions or expansions of non-natives is a great thing our group can do to help this website get information out and available ASAP.

The folks at USGS-NAS are careful and they do very good work.

If you catch exotic species in new places, take good pictures and/or keep specimens, and report them via the on-line reporting tool. We can't all be serious full-time scientists, but this is something we can do, because a lot of time we know when we find something that's not supposed to be there ... and it's easy.

Hey guys, I'm finally coming across this forum about a year late, but I wanted to say that I really appreciate the direction the conversation was going. I work with the NAS database and am very happy to see that our product is being used in so many ways in the fish community. I thank you all for your kinds words and especially for your sighting reports. Not only are they a great thing you can do, but the sighting reports make up a huge percentage of the new and current information we receive. We try to work fast while maintaining quality data, so photos help to reduce the hassle of followup and uncertainty. Any additional data provided (site description, collecting gear, etc...) is also helpful.

Thanks again for being our hands and eyes in the field! If you ever have any specific or complex searches that the website doesn't allow you to perform, contact me (see signature) and I can create a custom query to get you the information you need.

Matt Cannister
United States Geological Survey
Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program
Southeastern Ecological Science Center
7920 NW 71 Street
Gainesville, FL 32653

(352) 264-3572
mcannister@usgs.gov
http://nas.er.usgs.gov

Great to have you with us, Matt! Hope you stick around.

Great to have you with us, Matt! Hope you stick around.

Actually, there are two of us from the board that work on the USGS NAS database (and both named Matt...go figure!). I'll put in my contact information as well. Feel free to contact either of us with any question, comments, or updates.

Matthew Neilson, PhD
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program
Southeast Ecological Science Center
7920 NW 71st Street
Gainesville, FL 32653

(352) 264-3519
mneilson@usgs.gov