Using data collected at 203 randomly selected lakes in eight states in northeastern USA, we present maps of distributions and native status for 28 fish species: 15 benthic species in five families, 11 small water-column feeders in six families, and two large piscivores. Brown bullhead and white sucker were among the most widespread lake-dwelling fishes, and were collected in 69\% and 56\% of the sampled lakes. Banded killifish, American eel, and yellow bullhead were collected in 26\%, 19\% and 17\% of sampled lakes respectively. The remaining species were collected in \<8\% of the sampled lakes. Many of the species that were uncommon in this survey have limited distributions in the Northeast or are more commonly found in streams than in lakes. Seven species discussed in this article are Mississippian and were only collected in Cross Lake, NY. We also present a summary of the extent, geographic distributions, and native status of all 88 fish species collected in the EMAP – Northeast Lakes Project.