![]() Two important survey efforts were conducted, respectively completed in 2008 (ref. We conducted an extensive survey of freshwater fish species distribution based on 1436 published papers, books, grey literature, databases and web-based sources, resulting in species lists for 3119 drainage basins covering more than 80% of the Earth surface ( Fig. 40% inhabit permanently freshwater systems. fishes), with more than 33500 species described to date (FishBase ), from which c. The present database increases this list of taxa by providing occurrence data by drainage basin worldwide for the most diverse group of vertebrates (i.e. Indeed, global scale datasets allowing for biogeographical, macroecological, macroevolutionary and conservation studies were available for only a few well-documented animal taxa such as birds, mammals and amphibians 13–15. Extinction risk for freshwater fishes, for instance, is thought to be higher than that of terrestrial organisms 9 and recent extinction rate estimates are 112 to 855 times higher than natural extinction rates 10–12.ĭescribing global scale freshwater fish diversity patterns, understanding the environmental drivers and evolutionary processes shaping such diversity and revealing the major human-related threats were the major goals that motivated the compilation of the present database. Besides housing a disproportionately high fraction of the global animal diversity considering the small proportion of the earth’s surface that they occupy, freshwater ecosystems are also one of the most threatened habitats on Earth 7, 8. 40% of all described species inhabiting freshwaters, while the remaining 60% inhabiting marine habitats that comprise >99% of available aquatic habitat 6. Among aquatic organisms, fishes are a good example of this paradox (the ‘freshwater fish paradox’ sensu Tedesco et al. 126,000 already described animal species, freshwater systems host around 10% of all animals described to date 1–3 while occupying only 0.8% of the Earth’s surface and 0.02% of available aquatic habitable volume 4. Alone or in combination with further datasets on species biological and ecological characteristics and their evolutionary history, this database represents a highly valuable source of information for further studies on freshwater macroecology, macroevolution, biogeography and conservation. ![]() The database results from an extensive survey of native and non-native freshwater fish species distribution based on 1436 published papers, books, grey literature and web-based sources. Here we provide complete species lists for 3119 drainage basins covering more than 80% of the Earth surface using 14953 fish species inhabiting permanently or occasionally freshwater systems. Freshwater systems house a disproportionately high fraction of the global fish diversity considering the small proportion of the earth’s surface that they occupy, and are one of the most threatened habitats on Earth. ![]() These analyses obviously require global datasets of species distribution. To view a copy of this license, visit The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver applies to the metadata files made available in this article.Ī growing interest is devoted to global-scale approaches in ecology and evolution that examine patterns and determinants of species diversity and the threats resulting from global change. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
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