GIS Habitat Associations of Large River Fish Assemblages From Side-Scan Sona

There is limited understanding of species- and assemblage-habitat relationships of large river fishes due to the scale and spatial complexity of large rivers. My goal was to develop an approach using side-scan sonar to evaluate available habitat and habitat use of the local fish assemblages. I collected side-scan sonar derived habitat information for three consecutive years in conjunction with fish collection data in the Wabash River. I successfully used a Geographic Information System (GIS) database constructed with spatially explicit physical data as well as information on occurrences of individual taxa to detect habitat use patterns for complete fish assemblages at smaller scales. I suggest this approach to evaluate spatial and temporal trends in habitat use and availability of aquatic ecosystems.