Florida Freshwater Fish Life History Data

This dataset contains life history data for 31 non-native freshwater fishes that have been successfully established in peninsular Florida, 33 non-native freshwater fish species that have failed to establish in peninsular Florida as of the year 2021, and 61 native freshwater fish species. The dataset contains a total of 21 traits that span reproductive characteristics, size and shape, and habitat preferences and requirements.

Methods
Data were mined from the published literature, grey literature, and publicly available databases. We conducted multiple searches for each species using both common name and scientific name, both with and without “life history” included in the search bar. These searches were conducted using Google Scholar and the Web of Science. Primary literature was used whenever possible, but databases, including Fishbase, FishTraits (Frimpong & Angermeier, 2009), and gray literature were used to fill in any data gaps. Some traits were not available for some species, in which case congener data for similar species were used to fill in data gaps. Species lacking data that could not be determined using biologist expertise or congener data were removed from the lists and not included in analyses. Life history data for some species is more plentiful than others, therefore data quality is variable.