Temperature and Depth Data from Walleye Archival Data Logging Tags in Lake Erie, 2014

While recording fish habitat use via electronic sensors, biologgers can also be viewed as autonomous environmental monitoring systems with the organism as a vehicle. This dual perspective has provided novel results from marine ecosystems but has not been applied to freshwater ecosystems. To understand limitations in freshwater, we evaluated miniature depth and temperature recorders, as aquatic monitoring systems in Lake Erie. As part of an acoustic telemetry study, biologgers were implanted in a subsample of walleye, Sander vitreus in 2014. Biologgers were equipped with sensors capable of measuring water temperature and depth at half-hour intervals for up to a year. Recaptures provided six biologgers for analysis of seasonal temperature patterns and lake stratification, which are key variables for understanding dimictic lakes.