This dataset contains quality-controlled georeferenced occurrence records of three Arctic Calanus species (Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis and C. hyperboreus), downloaded from the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) databases. Records span about 150 years of sampling (1870-2017), are located between 30 and 90 degrees north, and are distributed between the surface and 5000m deep. Physical (bathymetry) and environmental (temperature and sea-ice concentration) parameters are matched to each occurrence record. An html file provides the annotated source code for the data processing, analyses and figures produced for the publication: Freer JJ and Tarling GA (2023) Assessing key influences on the distribution and life-history of Arctic and boreal Calanus: Are online databases up to the challenge? Front. Mar. Sci. 10:908112.

This work was funded by DIAPOD (NE/P006213/1) and CHASE (NE/R012687/1) projects as part of the Changing Arctic Ocean Programme, with the former funded by the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the latter, jointly by NERC and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Further support was provided by BIOPOLE National Capability Multicentre Round 2 funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/W004933/1).