American Fisheries Society's 2008 list inventories 700 extant imperiled freshwater and diadromous fish taxa across 133 genera and 36 families. The compilation, prepared by the Society's Endangered Species Committee, represents a 92% increase over the 1989 list and includes 61 extinct or extirpated taxa.
Use Cases
- Analyze threat levels by classifying taxa into vulnerable, threatened, or endangered categories.
- Map species distributions and conservation status across 80 freshwater ecoregions.
- Track status changes over time by comparing 2008 listings to the 1989 compilation.
- Identify primary threats like habitat degradation or nonindigenous species per taxon.
Strengths
- Inventory includes 700 extant taxa with detailed counts per threat category (230 vulnerable, 190 threatened, 280 endangered).
- Provides a temporal comparison to a prior 1989 list, showing a 92% increase in listed taxa.
- Covers a broad geographic scope including Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Limitations
- Data is from a single 2008 compilation and may not reflect current population statuses.
- Includes undescribed taxa based on expert opinion without independent taxonomic validation.
- Specific row counts, column details, and sample data are unavailable for validation.
Provenance
- Source
- American Fisheries Society Endangered Species Committee.
- Collection Method
- Committee evaluation of continental fishes native to Canada, Mexico, and the United States, incorporating peer-reviewed literature, theses, and expert input.
- Time Range
- Compilation dated 2008, with comparisons to a 1989 baseline.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- North America (Canada, Mexico, United States).