Evidence
Where all of this came from.
39 reference records rest on 224 published pages, and 109 of those come from state and provincial natural-resources departments. That suits a set of records about what lives in the water those departments survey. The rest is federal survey work, university and extension guides, and interagency reports. The counts are below. Every reviewed line sits behind a record or a search, with the sources standing behind its record.
How to read this
A line is cited as precisely as someone checked it.
Where a reviewer traced a line to the pages that carry it, the line names those pages and, when the evidence is narrower than the record, where it comes from — one coast, one lake, one region. 605 of 1049 of the lines below are traced that way. The rest show the sources standing behind their whole record, marked “record’s sources”, because nobody has yet checked which page carried which line, and printing a single citation there would be a mapping nobody made.
National
52
A federal or national government body — USGS, NOAA, EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Park Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
State
109
A state, provincial or commonwealth natural-resources department. Most of this carrier rests here, which suits it: these are the bodies that survey the water the records describe.
Interagency
12
A commission or joint survey run across several agencies, such as the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's forage task groups.
University
45
A university research programme, cooperative extension service or Sea Grant office. Published work, but not the agency that manages the water.
Journal
6
A peer-reviewed paper, or a curated scientific register such as the World Register of Marine Species. Added with the 2026-09-25 evidence review, which went to the primary study where no agency page said what a claim needed.
Probe leftovers
What the weekly check could not treat as ordinary.
These addresses are still the citations. The check named what it saw. None of them is a gone page in the MISIN sense, so the records were not rewritten to hide a redirect, a timeout, or a bot wall.
Iowa DNR — BluegillMoved
The cited address answers through a permanent redirect. GET on the page that lands still names Bluegill.
A same-site move that still names the animal is not the MISIN case. The citation stays until a reviewer reads the new address into the record.
CASG — market squidUnreachable from this network
The California Sea Grant market-squid page times out from the probe network.
NOAA still covers the same animal on this record. The CASG address stays; a timeout is not a reason to drop a citation.
Mass.gov — menhaden and longfin squidRefused the probe
Both creature-feature pages answered 403 from the probe network.
A bot wall is not evidence the page is gone. The citations stay; the weekly check does not fail the build on unverifiable.
Michigan DNR — crayfish identification PDFRefused the probe
The cited PDF answered 403 from the probe network.
A refused PDF is not a 404. The citation stays on the crayfish record until a reviewer can open it.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute — silversidesRefused the probe
The Menidia page answered 500 from the probe network.
A 500 is not a 404, and it is not a 403. The citation stays.
Claims
Every reviewed line in the app.
Cisco / lake herring →20 lines
- What you can seeA small fleshy adipose fin sits between the dorsal fin and the tail — a trout and salmon family character, though rainbow smelt carry one tooILDNR-CISCO, MANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE, DFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- What you can seeBody is elongate and nearly round in cross section rather than slab-sidedMNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT, ILDNR-CISCO, USFWS-CISCO
- What you can seeSilvery with a deep blue-green back; fins nearly clear, with dark tips to the tail and dorsal finsUSFWS-CISCO, ILDNR-CISCO
- What argues against itA sharp sawtooth belly keel points to a herring — shad or alewife — not to ciscoDFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- What argues against itA deep, strongly slab-sided body points away from ciscoMNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT
- What argues against itA spiny front dorsal rules out ciscoDFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- What argues against itSources disagree on whether the cisco's lower jaw projects; do not use jaw position to separate itMNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT, MNDNR-CISCO-WHITEFISH-ID
- Declared limitCisco need cold water, and inland lakes at least 10 m deep; this record is about what the animal looks like, not about whether your water holds them.MNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT, ILDNR-CISCOEvidence from: Inland-lake depth figure is from Michigan
- Declared limitSources conflict on jaw position, and gill-raker counts (44 to 52 in one Michigan account) need a fish in hand, so neither is offered as a field character.MNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT, MNDNR-CISCO-WHITEFISH-ID
- Declared limitNo young-of-year size is given because no source consulted stated one.record’s sources
- Size bandadult: 229-597 (adults average 229-457) mmUSFWS-CISCO, ILDNR-CISCO, DFO-BAITFISH-PRIMEREvidence from: Great Lakes, Illinois and Ontario accounts
- Water typelake-openrecord’s sources
- Water typelake-marginrecord’s sources
- Water typeriverrecord’s sources
- Life stageadultrecord’s sources
- Where it sitspelagic — open water, midwater in large and deep inland lakesUSFWS-CISCO, MNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT
- Where it sitsmoves shallow over rock to spawnMNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT, USGS-CISCO-CULTURE-MANUAL
- How it movesschooling in open waterILDNR-CISCO, MNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT
- Sources disagreeJaw position is described both ways. Michigan Natural Features Inventory says the cisco's lower jaw is equal to or shorter than the upper jaw; Minnesota DNR says it extends up to or beyond the tip of the snout.record’s sources
- Sources disagreeIllinois DNR calls cisco a fish of shallow water; USFWS and Michigan Natural Features Inventory describe a pelagic cold-water lake fish that uses the full depth range of the Great Lakes and, inland, needs lakes at least 10 m deep.record’s sources
- Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State UniversityMNFI-CISCO · University · read 2026-09-02
- Illinois Department of Natural ResourcesILDNR-CISCO · State · read 2026-09-02
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceUSFWS-CISCO · National · read 2026-09-02
- Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State UniversityMNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT · University · read 2026-09-25
- Minnesota Department of Natural ResourcesMNDNR-CISCO-WHITEFISH-ID · State · read 2026-09-25
- U.S. Geological SurveyUSGS-CISCO-CULTURE-MANUAL · National · read 2026-09-25
- Fisheries and Oceans CanadaDFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER · National · read 2026-09-02
- Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern DevelopmentMANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE · State · read 2026-09-02
The pages themselves
All 224, and what each one is holding up.
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
DFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- Illinois Department of Natural Resources
ILDNR-CISCO
- Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development
MANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE
- Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State University
MNFI-CISCO-ABSTRACT
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
MNDNR-CISCO-WHITEFISH-ID
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USFWS-CISCO
- U.S. Geological Survey
USGS-CISCO-CULTURE-MANUAL
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