Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary contains one of the richest and most productive marine habits in the U.S. It is home to a diverse fish community and serves as one of the most important feeding grounds in the North Atlantic for a number of migratory endangered whale species as well as some apex fish predators such as bluefin tuna and sharks.

To our knowledge, there are no published studies on the fish communities of the nearshore aquatic zone of Lake Superior proper. The diversity and complexity of nearshore aquatic habitats are likely to support a higher diversity of fishes than are found in the offshore zone of the lake (Hoff and Bronte 1999). The most comprehensive account to date of fishes of the nearshore zone of Lake Superior is included in a monograph on the fishes of Isle Royale by Hubbs and Lagler (1949). Although this monograph concentrates on inland waters of Isle Royale, it provides a compilation of fish records for the nearshore zone during 1904-1945. As such, the work of Hubbs and Lagler (1949) establishes a baseline for all future inventories of nearshore fish communities of Lake Superior.