A database of basic information and reproductive characteristics of freshwater fish species in China

Fish species in freshwater habitats play an important role in maintaining the health of freshwater ecosystems and providing nutrition for human society, but are especially vulnerable to the impacts of human activities represented by dam constructions on their reproductive process. Although the extensive research on reproductive biology of freshwater fish species in China has been well conducted, a comprehensive online, public database related to reproductive characteristic does not exist. In this paper, based on a list of 1,384 freshwater fishes species in China, underlying reproductive characteristic data were extracted from published papers (n=1,020), monographs and reports (n=63), data-sharing websites (n=7) and disposaled in a standardised way to form a national scale database. The focus of this database mainly including spawning seasons, spawning temperature, diameter and properties of fish eggs, incubation conditions and migratory habits. This database represents a highly valuable source of information for further studies on numerical simulation of freshwater ecosystem and conservation of freshwater fish diversity.