Stickleback Somatic and Endocrine Data from UK Rivers, 2005-2008

Somatic and physiological measurements for three-spined stickleback fish, collected by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Data includes length, weight, sex, condition factor, cortisol, glucose, RNA:DNA ratio, and liver enzyme activity. Fish were captured from the River Ray and reference rivers before and after wastewater treatment remediation.

Use Cases

• Analyze cortisol and glucose concentration changes in fish before and after 2008 wastewater treatment remediation.
• Model fish condition factor (K-factor) using somatic measurements like length and weight.
• Investigate relationships between ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity and RNA:DNA ratio as physiological stress indicators.
• Compare physiological metrics like liver enzyme activity across sites in the River Ray, River Ock, and Childrey Brook.

Strengths

• Data spans a four-year time range (2005-2008) capturing a remediation event.
• Includes multiple physiological stress markers: cortisol, glucose, RNA:DNA ratio, and specific liver enzyme activity.
• Sampling covers both an impacted river (Ray) and neighboring reference rivers (Ock, Childrey Brook) for comparison.

Limitations

• Sample size (number of fish or rows) is not specified, limiting assessment of statistical power.
• Data is temporally stale, with the most recent collection year being 2008.
• Unknown if the dataset includes individual fish identifiers or is aggregated, affecting analysis granularity.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre, originating from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Collection Method

Fish were captured from river sites; physiological and somatic measurements were taken in a lab context.

Time Range

2005-2008

Freshness

Data collection ended in 2008; the record itself was last updated in March 2026.

Geography

River Ray (south west England), and the reference rivers River Ock and Childrey Brook.