Set of size and weight data of the invasive Australian redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus), families of aquatic macroinvertebrates assemblages, biotic integrity index, physicochemical variables, and index of Habitat Quality and Ripiarian Quality of rivers of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Querétaro, 2023.

We sampled seven sites: five along the Santa María River, one at Concá spring, and another on the Ayutla River, both tributaries of the Santa María River, which forms the main course of the Tamuín sub-basin. All sites are located in the Arroyo Seco municipality, in Queretaro State, in the SGBR. These sites are located within the SGBR buffer zone, less than 10 km upriver from one of the core zones of the reserve.Individuals of the Australian redclaw crayfish were collected using funnel traps with a single cone-shaped inlet (dimension: 450 mm height, 300 mm diameter; mesh size: 5 mm) baited with fish. Six traps were set at each site, with three placed in areas with current and three in pool zones. After 24 hours, the traps were retrieved to collect the captured organisms. Sampling was conducted once a month in April, July, August, September, October and November 2023. Captured specimens of Australian redclaw crayfish were euthanized by placing them in slurry ice and then preserved in an 80% ethyl alcohol solution. Native specimens (i.e. Macrobrachium sp.) were measured, weighed, and subsequently released. All specimens were weighed, measured, and sexed before preservation. Total length (TL) and cephalothorax length (CL) were measured, following Rodriguez et al. (2014) and Sedik et al. (2019). The density of the Australian redclaw crayfish was calculated by dividing the number of individuals collected by the sampling effort in days. The total sampling effort over the seven-month period was considered, with six traps set per site each month, resulting in a total sampling effort of 42 trap-days per site.The physical condition of the habitat was evaluated using a visual-based habitat assessment (VBHA) following the methodology of Barbour et al. (1999), which includes variables such as sinuosity, substrate and bank materials, sediment retention areas, riparian vegetation, riparian zone conditions, and floodplain status. The condition of the riparian vegetation was evaluated following Garcia de Jalón and González del Tánago (2011), assessing qualitatively attributes of the riverine zone of the river, including variables of the space available for riparian functions and indicators of the temporal evolution of the present structure.Chemical and biological condition was evaluated in April during the dry season when conditions are more stable. Chemical condition was determined by measuring water’s chemical and physical properties with a multimeter (Hach Hydromet Quanta, Loveland, Colorado, USA), including pH, dissolved oxygen (mg/L), total dissolved solids (ppm), electrical conductivity (mS) and temperature (°C). The biological condition was assessed by evaluating the biological integrity through macroinvertebrate assemblages. Macroinvertebrate samples were collected from all available habitats using a D-net (300 mm diameter, 300 μm mesh size) with a total sampling effort of 90 minutes. Taxonomic identification of macroinvertebrates was carried out at the family level using specialized keys. The index of biotic integrity was calculated based on freshwater macroinvertebrate assemblages (IIBAMA) created by Pérez-Munguía and Pineda-López (2005) and validated by Torres-Olvera et al. (2018), includes six attributes that change with habitat degradation or pollution. The attributes are the richness of taxa (RT), Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera richness (REPT), the richness of sensitive insects (RII), the richness of sensitive taxa (TI), and the number of fixed taxa to a substrate (#TF).The data were obtained in one subtropical river drainage of Central Mexico, the Pánuco River drainage. This zone has a semi-arid area in the northwest and south, and a subtropical area in the northeastern part, located on the eastern part of Sierra Madre and neovolcanic belt. It shows an altitude range from 295 to 2265 m.o.s.l. (meters over sea level).