Deep Sea Coral voucher sequence dataset - Identification of deep-sea corals collected during the 2009 - 2014 West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey

Data for this project resides in the West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey Database. Deep-sea corals are often components of trawling bycatch, though their brittle skeleton and slow growth make them particularly vulnerable to such impacts. An understanding of the population structure of deep-sea corals will be critical to ascertaining the effects of habitat loss and genetic connections between distant populations, both of which are important to the 2006 Magnuson-Stevens Act directive and the NMFS federal mandate. An initial species inventory of deep-sea corals off the United States coastline is a necessary first step toward a comprehensive understanding of the ecology and distribution of this diverse species assemblage. Quantifying species distributions from bycatch data and fisheries independent surveys requires accurate species-level identifications of the corals found in tows; however, the taxonomic identification of corals to the species level is often problematic. In some cases morphologically similar specimens may only be distinguished from one another using microscopic skeletal structures. In other cases, the taxonomic delineations of some families are so confused that accurate species-level designations are currently impossible. The use of genetic information combined with morphology is likely the best approach to decipher evolutionary patterns in these species.
A collection of genetic barcodes for all verified voucher specimens of deep sea corals in our collections. Also includes SEM images for some species.