Update Aug. '06 We have made some changes to the database to provide you with more accurate information about where you can locate fish on our artificial reefs. If you have downloaded either the coordinates or the maps provided on the main artificial reef page you may notice that each reef deployment has a specific identifier, i.e. ARC12 or PACE4. These identifiers refer to a specific deployment within a permitted reef site. Each permitted reef site has many individual deployments within it's borders. Now, when you query the fish database, each result will offer the exact deployment location within that reef site where the fish was seen. For example, if your query result shows gag grouper were seen at ARC12, you will now know that the grouper was seen on the steel towers we placed at the ARC site in 2002. You can cross reference your results with the listing of coordinates for our reef sites and know exactly which material that fish was seen on. We hope this new information assists you in enjoying the diving and fishing on our artificial reefs.

Welcome to the Lee County artificial reef fish survey database. We hope that the information contained within this database can be of some use to you. Whether you are a fishermen, diver, scientist or just interested in seeing what inhabits Lee County artificial reefs, this database should have something for you. Please remember a few things when you are utilizing this resource. This data represents work done by Lee County staff and volunteer divers over the past 10 years. All surveys were performed using SCUBA gear and the fish noted were all visually verified. Many surveys were performed under less than optimal conditions and there were certainly many fish that were uncounted during these surveys. Also, many species of fish are relatively "diver-shy" and therefore do not show up on these surveys. Fish like king and Spanish mackerel, dolphin, cobia, shark, and many others leave the area or only briefly visit when divers enter the water. These types of fish will be underrepresented in this database. Other times, underwater visibility limits the fish species noted. In these cases, only the most inquisitive fishes are the ones noted.

Also be aware there may be no data for the search you put in. Surveys may have never been done for the site or month you are inquiring about or a certain species of fish that you may be interested in has not been seen in the area or time of year you are concerned with. In an effort to make this data easy to access, we have simplified the search station. For example, if you searched for grouper, your results will include all species of grouper; gag, red, scamp, etc. The same may happen for other fish species as well. If you are looking for a specific species you may just have to weed through some of it's closest relatives to find them in your results page. To date, 129 species of fish have been noted on Lee County reefs, including 10 different species of jack. The search drop-down menus become a little bit unwieldy when all species are included.

An effort was made to use the most "common" common name of all the fish we have seen. For example, the name "hogfish" was used while we know many anglers and divers call these fish "hog snapper." These fish are, in fact, not snapper but more closely related to wrasses, so we chose hogfish. Also, many locals mistakenly call gag grouper "black grouper". While black grouper are found in local waters, they are much less common than gags. Gag grouper are by far the most common grouper found on Lee County artificial reefs. If you are confused by the choices listed on the drop-down menus, please contact us and we can hopefully answer your questions.

If you are interested in data for a specific site and set up your search for a specific month, your results will have all species ever noted for those parameters, many of which you may not care about. You may need to refine your search somewhat to target the fish you want to find.

Last but not least, realize that these surveys are just "snapshots" in time. Fish move around, they eat and are eaten. The results you get will not guarantee that you will find those fish out there when you go. The database can, however, show tendencies and we have found that certain species of fish like certain types of structure, so the odds are pretty good you can find what you are looking for, but it is still your job to CATCH the fish!

New data will be added to this database as surveys are performed, so check back from time to time. You may see different results. If you have any questions or comments about this database please feel free to contact us via E-mail or phone at 533-8133.