In the 2012 President's Budget Request, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is terminated. As a result, all resources, databases, tools, and applications within this web site will be removed on January 15, 2012. For more information, please refer to the NBII Program Termination page.
Fishbase is a searchable global database of fish species information.
FishBase on the web contains practically all fish species known to science. Search over 28,000 fish species by common name, scientific name, ecosystem, or country. Or, use the search feature to find tools, maps, or references.
Fishes are aquatic vertebrates that have fins, gills and scales. Gills are the part of a fish's respiratory system that provide surface area for exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide under water. Fish are thought of as "cold-blooded", or ectotherms, meaning they cannot control their own body temperature; instead, they depend on the temperature of their environment. They can live in fresh or salt water, and have a range of potential diets, being herbivores, carnivores or omnivores.
Fish Species of Greatest Conservation Need
One hundred and sixteen fish species have been identified in state wildlife action plans as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (GCN) for the Mountain Prairie Region, which includes which includes Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The Mountain Prairie Fish Species of Greatest Conservation Need interactive application brings together resources on these 116 GCN fish species from multiple authoritative sources including the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) and NatureServe.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Surf Your Watershed
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Surf Your Watershed" program integrates environmental information available by geographic units including state, watershed, county, metro area, and tribe.
The site provides access to three main databases:
1. Adopt Your Watershed, a database of watershed groups,
2. Wetlands Restoration Projects, which displays ongoing wetlands restoration,
3. Environmental Websites Database, a directory of websites dedicated to environmental issues and information.
For more information about fishes nationwide, visit the NBII Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (NBII-FAR) web site. There you can find further web resources on fishes and aquatic organisms and the diverse factors affecting aquatic resources nationally.
Partnerships are a key element of the National Fish Habitat Action Plan, a collaborative effort to address a nationwide crisis for fish by addressing the loss and degradation of their habitat. Public and private partnerships developed as part of the NFHAP reflect the locally-driven nature of the Plan. NFHAP partnerships are "self-identified, self-organized, and self-directed communities of interest formed around geographic areas, keystone species, or system types". Visit the NFHAP Fish Habitat Partnerships page to find partnerships in your region through a map, descriptions, and links.
As a federal-level partner, the USGS-NBII houses the data delivery system supporting the National Fish Habitat Action Plan. Find out more about NBII's role in the NFHAP and the data associated with the Plan.
The NBII Program is administered by the Biological Informatics Program of the U.S. Geological Survey