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O’Neill, C.R., 2001. The National Aquatic Nuisance Species Clearinghouse and Searchable Electronic Database, New York Sea Grant. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions, New Orleans, La., April 9-11, 2001, pp. 107-108. The National Aquatic Nuisance Species Clearinghouse and Searchable Electronic DatabaseStakeholders interested in the introduction, spread, potential impacts, and control of aquatic nuisance, nonindigenous, and invasive species require timely, reliable, scientific information and fast, easy access to published research pertaining to such organisms. Since August 1990, they have been able to obtain such information from Sea Grant's Zebra Mussel Information Clearinghouse. For seven years, the Clearinghouse was "just" a zebra mussel clearinghouse, with North America's most extensive technical library of published research, "grey literature," and other relevant documentation pertaining to all facets of the zebra mussel issue. That was then, this is now. The Clearinghouse has undergone extensive and exciting changes since mid-1997, resulting in the name change to the "National Aquatic Nuisance Species Clearinghouse." The mission of the clearinghouse is: to facilitate and coordinate aquatic nuisance, nonindigenous, and invasive species information sharing among researchers throughout North America and worldwide; to provide continuity to the timely dissemination of findings of aquatic nuisance, nonindigenous, and invasive species research projects; and to facilitate aquatic nuisance, nonindigenous, and invasive species prevention and control technology transfer between researchers and stakeholder audiences. The clearinghouse serves as a major link between the research community and a wide array of university, government agency, industrial, and special interest stakeholders. The clearinghouse also plays a high-profile role as a primary nexus for identifying completed, current, and proposed aquatic nuisance, nonindigenous, and invasive species research activities and for linking researchers with similar interests. The clearinghouse now addresses both marine and freshwater aquatic nuisance, nonindigenous, and invasive species throughout the Gulf of Maine, Northern Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, Southern Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Central and Northern California, Pacific Northwest, and Great Lakes regions, and North American inland river and lacustrine systems. The clearinghouse has added to its library and searchable database, including the following organisms: zebra and "quagga" mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis), the Amur River Corbula (Potamocorbula amurensis), the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea), the Asian mussel (Musculista senhousia), the Atlantic green crab (Carcinus maenas), the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), the blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), the brown mussel (Perna perna), the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis), the dark false mussel (Mytilopsis leucophaeata), the Eurasian ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus), the fishhook water flea (Cercopagis pengoi), the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), the green lipped mussel (Perna viridis), gribbles (Limnoria spp.), the golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei), the round and tube-nose gobies (Neogobius melanostomus and Proterorhinus marmoratus), the New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum), the rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), shipworms (Teredo navalis), mud-dwelling isopod (Sphaeroma quoyanum), the spiny water flea (Bythotrephes cederstroemi), the Suminoe oyster (Crassostrea ariakensis), and the veined Rapa whelk (Rapana venosa), as well as biological macrofouling, aquatic exotic organisms, and invasive species policy issues. All of the information in the clearinghouse is accessible to any researcher, agency, industry, utility, student, or other individual or group via electronic mail, fax, toll- or toll-free telephone, written requests, or visits to the clearinghouse. A new, searchable electronic database of the clearinghouse's Technical Library Bibliography is now available on the clearinghouse's World Wide Web home page. Citations include: author(s), title, document source and date, an annotation, whether the document is a journal article or other type of publication, document length, the language in which the document is written, whether the document is available on interlibrary loan from the clearinghouse or direct from some other source, and the copying/mailing fee if the document is available from the clearinghouse. The database is keyword searchable (via a 170+ keyword, four level search outline). Most documents are available directly from the clearinghouse on interlibrary loan and can be ordered on-line. The World Wide Web address for the database is: http://cce.cornell.edu/seagrant/nansc/. The web site also contains a series of detailed maps charting the range expansion of the zebra mussel and the "quagga" mussel in North America since 1989, as well as information on a number of other informational and educational materials available from the clearinghouse and numerous "hot links" to other aquatic nuisance, nonindigenous, and invasive species web sites. The Federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Zebra Mussel Research Program, the Great Lakes and Western Panels on Aquatic Nuisance Species, the Western Zebra Mussel Task Force, and numerous other federal, state, and international agencies and institutions have utilized the clearinghouse as a major channel for extending information on zebra mussel, aquatic nuisance, nonindigenous, and invasive species spread, research, and policy initiatives to all interested audiences. Contact: Charles R. O'Neill, Jr., New York Sea Grant, Morgan II, State
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