Heather L Walsh

Stream temperature and sculpin growth data collected from Catoctin Mountain Park in 2019

This Data Release includes records of stream temperature during summer months of 2019 (10 sites) and records of Blue Ridge sculpin (Cottus caeruleomentum) weight for fish held in experimental enclosures for 45 days during the temperature sampling period (5 sites).

Categories: Data; Tags: Catoctin Mountain Park, Ecology, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), fish, growth, All tags... stream temperature, Fewer tags

Water Chemistry and Smallmouth Bass Biological Data From the Potomac River, Dargan, Maryland, 2013-2019

Decades of poor reproductive success and young-of-the-year recruitment, in addition to adult mortality, has led to a decline in the smallmouth bass (SMB) population in subwatersheds of the Potomac River. Previous studies have identified numerous biologic and environmental stressors associated with negative effects on SMB health. To better understand the impact of these stressors, the current study was conducted from 2013-2019 to identify temporal changes associated with SMB reproductive health. Grab surface water samples were collected and analyzed for over 300 organic contaminants, including pesticides, phytoestrogens, pharmaceuticals, hormones and total estrogenicity (E2Eq). Adult SMB were collected and sampled...

Categories: Data; Tags: Aquatic Biology, Chesapeake Bay drainage, Environmental Health, Maryland, Potomac River, All tags... USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Disease, biota, endocrine disruption, plasma vitellogenin, reproductive health, testicular oocytes, transcript abundance, Fewer tags

Presence/Absence of Myxobolus inornatus, Aeromonas spp., and Flavobacterium spp. in Young-of-the-Year Smallmouth Bass with Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization

Histopathological assessments of young-of-the-year smallmouth bass (YOY SMB) in the Susquehanna River drainage identified a high prevalence of the myxozoan Myxobolus inornatus. This myxozoan infects the connective tissue of the muscle below the skin but is sometimes observed in the esophagus and buccal cavity. In some instances, shallow infections cause breaks in the skin which could increase the chance of opportunistic bacterial infections. Several microbial pathogens including Flavobacterium columnare, Aeromonas spp. and largemouth bass virus (LMBV) have also been cultured from clinically diseased YOY. A multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay was developed to determine potential co-localization...

Categories: Data; Tags: Aeromonas spp., Aquatic Biology, Coinfections, Flavobacterium spp., Fluorescence in situ hybridization, All tags... Myxobolus inornatus, Pennsylvania, Smallmouth bass, Susquehanna River Drainage, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Disease, Wildlife Disease, biota, Fewer tags

Biological variables and liver and testes transcript abundance from smallmouth bass sampled in the Lake Erie drainage, Pennsylvania (2016)

In 2016, smallmouth bass were collected from three sites in the Lake Erie drainage in Erie County, Pennsylvania and an out-of-basin site in the Allegheny River drainage in order to assess reproductive health and identify endocrine disruption responses. Pieces of liver and gonad were taken in Z-Fix and RNALater for histology and transcript abundance analysis. A landscape analysis was conducted for the immediate and upstream catchments with 2016 land cover data. Correlations between biological variables and transcripts were made in addition to differences between sites. The results showed that males had biological variables that correlated with transcripts associated with endocrine disruption and a high rate of testicular...

Categories: Data; Tags: Aquatic Biology, Environmental Health, Environmental Health, Lake Erie, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), All tags... Wildlife Biology, Wildlife Biology, Wildlife Disease, Wildlife Disease, biomarkers, biota, plasma vitellogenin, reproductive health, testicular oocytes, transcript abundance, Fewer tags

2004-2010 Chesapeake Bay Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass Estrogenic Biomarker Data

The data was gathered to document the extent and severity of biomarkers of exposure to estrogenic chemicals in smallmouth and largemouth bass. Samples were collected from 2004 through 2010 at sites in five watersheds within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A total of 281 largemouth bass were collected from the Potomac, Susquehanna, Patuxent and Rappahannock rivers and 1,384 smallmouth bass from the Potomac, Susquehanna and James. Fish were collected by boat electroshocking, euthanized in the field, weighed, measured, a blood samples collected and a necropsy completed that included documenting any visible abnormalities and collecting tissues for histopathology. Plasma obtained from blood samples was analyzed for vitellogenin,...

Categories: Data; Tags: Maryland, Pennsylvania, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Virginia, West Virginia, All tags... histology, intersex, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, vitellogenin, Fewer tags