Invertebrate and Aquatic Vegetation Occurrence in the St. Lawrence Estuary, 2019-2022

4,866 species occurrence records for 109 taxa of epibenthic invertebrates and submerged aquatic vegetation were collected via drop camera photo systems. The data were gathered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada during research surveys from June to October between 2019 and 2022 along the north shore from Portneuf-sur-Mer to Sept-Îles. This work supports the Ocean Protection Plan's baseline program for characterizing coastal marine ecosystems.

Use Cases

• Modeling species distribution based on depth and location data mentioned in the description
• Analyzing benthic community composition and structure for epibenthic invertebrates and submerged vegetation
• Establishing environmental baselines for coastal ecosystem assessment and management decisions
• Correlating biological assemblages with physico-chemical water parameters collected during the same surveys

Strengths

• 4,866 occurrence records provide a substantial observational dataset
• Covers 109 different taxa, offering a multi-species perspective
• Data collected over four field seasons (2019-2022) for temporal context
• Associated with a broader suite of environmental measurements (e.g., CTD, nutrients, substrate)

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific coastal transect sampled

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Drop camera photo (DCP) system deployment during research surveys, combined with other conventional and non-extractive methods.

Time Range

June to October, 2019 to 2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 12:34:23.119974; freshness should be verified

Geography

Coastal areas of the north shore of the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf, between Portneuf-sur-Mer and Sept-Îles (Quebec, Canada)