The Danube Fish Database: documenting species distributions across a major European river basin

The Danube River Basin (DRB) harbors the highest documented fish species richness of any European river, yet native populations face increasing threats from physical infrastructures that impede longitudinal and lateral connectivity, unsustainable fisheries, the introduction of non-native species, and climate change. Spanning across 19 countries, the DRB presents conservation challenges that demand coordinated, transboundary data sharing. The present database compiles and standardizes fish occurrence datasets that have been previously unavailable, fragmented and often restricted by federal agencies, research institutes, and conservation organizations, integrating also data from sources such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Joint Danube Surveys, the European Fish Index, and national monitoring programmes. It contains 133,131 occurrence records across 114 fish species, representing 30 families and 17 orders, with a temporal range from 1856 to 2024, organized into 39 columns. By supporting fish community conservation, invasive alien species monitoring, and climate impact assessments, this database provides a vital resource for developing evidence-based management strategies in the DRB.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Data
Published
2026-05-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07249-5
Primary Topic
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

The Danube Fish Database: documenting species distributions across a major European river basin

András Specziàr, Dušan Nikolić, A. Sevcsik, Polona Pengal et al.
Scientific Data
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
article

The Danube Fish Database: documenting species distributions across a major European river basin

András Specziàr, Dušan Nikolić, A. Sevcsik, Polona Pengal, Renáta Szita, Joachim Pander, Masa Carf, Damir Valić, Borislava Margaritova, S. Mihov, Béla Kiss, Vivien Füstös, Zoltán Vitál, Zoltán Müller, Klaudija Lebar, Vanessa Bremerich, Twan Stoffers, Bálint Preiszner, Zoltán Sallai, Attila Mozsár, Milcho Todorov, Marina Piria, Bálint Bánó, Matej Marušić, Anthony Basooma, Maroš Kubala, Zoltán Szalóky, Simon Rusjan, Yusdiel Torres‐Cambas, Sandi Orlić, Iulian Nichersu, Christoffer Nagel, László Polyák, Andrea Samu, Brigitte Sasano, Péter Sály, Paul Meulenbroek, István Czeglédi, Martin Tschikof, Márton Sallai, Miklós Bán, Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber, Gorčin Cvijanović, Zoltán Fehér, Thomas Hein, András Ambrus, Irina Cernisencu, Milica Jaćimović, Gábor Takács, Marija Smederevac-Lalić, Sami Domisch, Juergen Geist, Teodora Trichkova, Sonja C. Jähnig, Maxim Teichert, Péter Takács, Balázs Tóth, Tibor Erős, Florian Borgwardt
article en

Abstract

The Danube River Basin (DRB) harbors the highest documented fish species richness of any European river, yet native populations face increasing threats from physical infrastructures that impede longitudinal and lateral connectivity, unsustainable fisheries, the introduction of non-native species, and climate change. Spanning across 19 countries, the DRB presents conservation challenges that demand coordinated, transboundary data sharing. The present database compiles and standardizes fish occurrence datasets that have been previously unavailable, fragmented and often restricted by federal agencies, research institutes, and conservation organizations, integrating also data from sources such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the Joint Danube Surveys, the European Fish Index, and national monitoring programmes. It contains 133,131 occurrence records across 114 fish species, representing 30 families and 17 orders, with a temporal range from 1856 to 2024, organized into 39 columns. By supporting fish community conservation, invasive alien species monitoring, and climate impact assessments, this database provides a vital resource for developing evidence-based management strategies in the DRB.

Scientific DataVol. 13(1)
Danube Private University (AT), University of Debrecen (HU), Universität für Weiterbildung Krems (AT), Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (AT), University of Ljubljana (SI), University of Zagreb (HR), HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research (HU), Universidad de Oriente (CU), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BG), Budapest University of Technology and Economics (HU), University of Łódź (PL), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), Water Research Institute (SK), Ecological Engineering Institute (SI), Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft (AT), Research Institute for Fisheries and Aquaculture (HU), Geodetic Institute of Slovenia (SI), Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development (RO), Christian Doppler Laboratory for Thermoelectricity (AT), Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE), Szent János Kórház (HU), HUN-REN Balaton Limnological Research Institute (HU), Ruđer Bošković Institute (HR), National Transport Hospital "Tzar Boris III" (BG), Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (BG), HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU), Guiana Space Centre (GF), Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia (SI), Institute of Physics Belgrade (RS), Water Resources Research Centre (HU), Kiskunság National Park (HU), WWF Hungary, University of Montenegro (ME), Technical University of Munich (DE), Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Österreichische Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Ministry of Environment, Christian Doppler Forschungsgesellschaft, Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Bundesministerium für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Fish Ecology and Management Studies
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