Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) of Reef Fish, including Benthic Estimate Data at Coral Reef Sites across the Pacific Ocean from 2007 to 2012

Description

The stationary point count (nSPC) method was used to conduct reef fish surveys in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of NOAA's Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP) from 2008 to 2012. Stationary point count is a non-invasive underwater survey method that catalogs the diversity (species richness), abundance (numeric density), and biomass (fish mass per unit area) of diurnally active reef fish assemblages in shallow-water (less than 30 m) hard-bottom habitats. Starting in 2010, visual estimates of benthic cover and topographic structural complexity were also recorded, with benthic organisms grouped into broad functional categories (e.g., 'Hard Coral', 'Macroalgae'). A stratified random sampling (StRS) design was employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S.-Pacific regions. For all regions, the survey domain encompassed the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats and the stratification included island, reef zone, and depth, with the exception of the Main Hawaiian Islands that included habitat structure type as well. Sampling effort was allocated based on strata area and variability. At each REA survey site, 1 or 2 nSPC fish surveys were conducted, with each survey being carried out by a pair of divers each recording the number, size and species of all fishes within adjacent 15-m diameter cylinders. Benthic estimates were recorded at the end of the fish surveys. Reef fish and benthic estimate data provided in this data set were collected during stationary point count surveys as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) led Pacific RAMP cruises. Data collected as part of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument funded research cruises in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2012 are also included as these data were funded separately from but are complementary to the Pacific RAMP data collected by ESD.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/34515
0 Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, Fish Ecology and Monitoring https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/fish.php
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/34515.pdf
33 Overview of PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division reef fish survey methods and data. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/reef_fish_survey_methods_and_data.pdf
0 Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted at various islands in the U.S. Pacific Islands Region from 2008 to 2012 https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0162472
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/pacific_ramp.php
0 Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Fish Surveys. 2015 update (replaces SOP published in 2011). https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157633
33 NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Fish Surveys. PIFSC Admin Report 11-08 published December 2011. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/library/pubs/admin/PIFSC_Admin_Rep_11-08.pdf
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website, description of Stationary Point Count (nSPC) Method used to survey coral reef fishes (2007-Present). https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods.php#new_stationary_point_count
0 Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument website https://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/
0 Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes by the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument conducted around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2007 (HI0708), 2009 (HI0907), 2011 (HA1103), and 2012 (HA1204). https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0178974
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website, fish survey methods training page https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods/fish_surveys/rapid_ecological_assessment_of_fish-survey_method_training.php
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
0 Data have been translated by a third party to Darwin Core format and served via the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Data Access portal: OBIS Dataset Title: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division, National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish in the U.S. Pacific Islands. Years: 2007-2019 DOI: 10.15468/tk1hwm OBIS Dataset ID: 2ae2a2bd-8412-405b-8a9f-b71adc41d4c5 OBIS provides a portal or gateway to many datasets containing information on where and when marine species have been recorded. The datasets are integrated so you can search them all seamlessly by species name, higher taxonomic level, geographic area, depth, and time; and then map and find environmental data related to the locations. There are several ways to access OBIS data: (1) Mapper, (2) API, and (3) R package. The mapper allows you to visualize and inspect subsets of OBIS data. A variety of filters (taxonomic, geographic, time, data quality) is available and multiple layers can be combined in a single view. Layers can be downloaded as CSV files. Developers can access data through the OBIS API or the R package. https://mapper.obis.org/?datasetid=2ae2a2bd-8412-405b-8a9f-b71adc41d4c5
0 Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted at various islands in the U.S. Pacific Islands Region from 2008 to 2012 https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0162472
0 Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes by the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument conducted around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2007 (HI0708), 2009 (HI0907), 2011 (HA1103), and 2012 (HA1204). https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0178974
0 Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Fish Surveys. 2015 update (replaces SOP published in 2011). https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157633
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/34515
0 Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, Fish Ecology and Monitoring https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/fish.php
33 NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Fish Surveys. PIFSC Admin Report 11-08 published December 2011. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/library/pubs/admin/PIFSC_Admin_Rep_11-08.pdf
33 Overview of PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division reef fish survey methods and data. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/reef_fish_survey_methods_and_data.pdf
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website, description of Stationary Point Count (nSPC) Method used to survey coral reef fishes (2007-Present). https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods.php#new_stationary_point_count
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website, fish survey methods training page https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods/fish_surveys/rapid_ecological_assessment_of_fish-survey_method_training.php
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/pacific_ramp.php
0 Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument website https://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/34515.pdf
0 Data have been translated by a third party to Darwin Core format and served via the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Data Access portal: OBIS Dataset Title: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division, National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish in the U.S. Pacific Islands. Years: 2007-2019 DOI: 10.15468/tk1hwm OBIS Dataset ID: 2ae2a2bd-8412-405b-8a9f-b71adc41d4c5 OBIS provides a portal or gateway to many datasets containing information on where and when marine species have been recorded. The datasets are integrated so you can search them all seamlessly by species name, higher taxonomic level, geographic area, depth, and time; and then map and find environmental data related to the locations. There are several ways to access OBIS data: (1) Mapper, (2) API, and (3) R package. The mapper allows you to visualize and inspect subsets of OBIS data. A variety of filters (taxonomic, geographic, time, data quality) is available and multiple layers can be combined in a single view. Layers can be downloaded as CSV files. Developers can access data through the OBIS API or the R package. https://mapper.obis.org/?datasetid=2ae2a2bd-8412-405b-8a9f-b71adc41d4c5
0 Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes by the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument conducted around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2007 (HI0708), 2009 (HI0907), 2011 (HA1103), and 2012 (HA1204). https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0178974
0 Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Fish Surveys. 2015 update (replaces SOP published in 2011). https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157633
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/34515
0 Coral Reef Ecosystem Program website, Fish Ecology and Monitoring https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/fish.php
33 NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) Standard Operating Procedures: Data Collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment Fish Surveys. PIFSC Admin Report 11-08 published December 2011. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/library/pubs/admin/PIFSC_Admin_Rep_11-08.pdf
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website, description of Stationary Point Count (nSPC) Method used to survey coral reef fishes (2007-Present). https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods.php#new_stationary_point_count
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website, fish survey methods training page https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/survey_methods/fish_surveys/rapid_ecological_assessment_of_fish-survey_method_training.php
0 PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division website. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/pacific_ramp.php
0 Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument website https://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/dmp/pdf/34515.pdf
0 Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted at various islands in the U.S. Pacific Islands Region from 2008 to 2012 https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0162472
0 Data have been translated by a third party to Darwin Core format and served via the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Data Access portal: OBIS Dataset Title: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division, National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish in the U.S. Pacific Islands. Years: 2007-2019 DOI: 10.15468/tk1hwm OBIS Dataset ID: 2ae2a2bd-8412-405b-8a9f-b71adc41d4c5 OBIS provides a portal or gateway to many datasets containing information on where and when marine species have been recorded. The datasets are integrated so you can search them all seamlessly by species name, higher taxonomic level, geographic area, depth, and time; and then map and find environmental data related to the locations. There are several ways to access OBIS data: (1) Mapper, (2) API, and (3) R package. The mapper allows you to visualize and inspect subsets of OBIS data. A variety of filters (taxonomic, geographic, time, data quality) is available and multiple layers can be combined in a single view. Layers can be downloaded as CSV files. Developers can access data through the OBIS API or the R package. https://mapper.obis.org/?datasetid=2ae2a2bd-8412-405b-8a9f-b71adc41d4c5
33 Overview of PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division reef fish survey methods and data. https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/reef_fish_survey_methods_and_data.pdf

Tags

  • hawaiian islands (21n157w0027)
  • guguan island
  • agrihan island (18n145e0002)
  • lanai island (20n156w0002)
  • farallon de pajaros (20n144e0001)
  • kingman reef (06n162w0001)
  • fish species
  • crep
  • lanai island
  • coral cover
  • ofu island (14s169w0013)
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc
  • spc
  • united states of america
  • species identification - organism length
  • american samoa (14s170w0000)
  • western pacific ocean
  • pacific remote islands marine national monument
  • alamagan island (17n145e0002)
  • reef monitoring and assessment
  • maug
  • johnston atoll (16n169w0001)
  • asuncion island (19n145e0001)
  • aquatic habitat
  • wake atoll
  • corals
  • guguan island (17n145e0001)
  • north pacific ocean
  • rose island
  • coral reef ecosystem division
  • baker island
  • oahu (21n157w0003)
  • northern mariana islands
  • fish - coral reef
  • pifsc
  • equatorial pacific ocean
  • jarvis island (00s160w0001)
  • maui
  • biosphere
  • pacific remote island areas
  • maug island
  • palmyra atoll (05n162w0001)
  • pacific reef and assessment monitoring program (pacific ramp)
  • rota island
  • tutuila island (14s170w0016)
  • species identification
  • survey
  • oceans
  • maui island (20n156w0004)
  • rose atoll marine national monument
  • mhi
  • coral reef conservation program
  • oscar elton sette
  • reef fish
  • rota island ( luta ) (14n145e0007)
  • marine invertebrates
  • molokai island
  • maug island (20n145e0001)
  • northern mariana islands ( cnmi ) (18n146e0000)
  • rose island (rose atoll) (14s168w0001)
  • american samoa
  • maui island
  • survey - biological
  • cnmi
  • aguihan island reefs
  • papahanaumokuakea marine national monument
  • noaa
  • guam
  • aguihan
  • pagan island (18n145e0001)
  • numeric data sets
  • marianas
  • rapid ecological assessment
  • hawaii
  • nmfs
  • macroinvertebrates
  • farallon de pajaros
  • south bank (14s170w0067)
  • nihoa (23n161w0001)
  • oahu island
  • baker island (00n176w0001)
  • swains atoll (11s171w0001)
  • guam (13n144e0000)
  • us doc
  • tinian island reefs
  • fish
  • hawaii island (19n155w0003)
  • kauai
  • ta'u island (14s169w0012)
  • howland island
  • pacific islands fisheries science center
  • manu'a group
  • olosega island (14s169w0014)
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • earth science
  • molokai island (21n157w0001)
  • maro reef (25n170w0001)
  • line islands
  • national marine fisheries service
  • niihau island (21n160w0001)
  • french frigate shoals (24n166w0001)
  • nwhi
  • hawaiian islands
  • kauai island (22n159w0001)
  • rea
  • necker island (23n164w0001)
  • ramp
  • mariana archipelago
  • pearl and hermes reef (27n176w0001)
  • manu'a islands (14s170w0038)
  • pria
  • reef fish census
  • ecosystem monitoring and assessment
  • marine biology
  • fish assemblages
  • cred
  • howland island (00s176w0001)
  • guguan
  • honolulu
  • saipan island
  • rota
  • saipan
  • northwestern hawaiian islands (28n178w0000)
  • marianas trench marine national monument
  • pagan
  • survey - swimmer/diver
  • aguihan island (aguijan) (14n145e0006)
  • central pacific ocean
  • usa minor outlying islands
  • agrihan island
  • commonwealth of the northern mariana islands
  • mariana islands
  • visual estimate
  • pacific reef assessment and monitoring program: monitoring coral reef ecosystems of the us pacific i
  • kure atoll (28n178w0001)
  • pagan island
  • reef habitat
  • asuncion island
  • reef assessment and monitoring program
  • nw pacific
  • coral reef ecology
  • ocean basin
  • main hawaiian islands
  • c204 pacific reef assessment and monitoring program (pacific ramp): biennial monitoring for the us p
  • ecosystem sciences division
  • stationary
  • niihau island
  • esd
  • biennial
  • coastal processes
  • johnston atoll
  • hi'ialakai
  • 1221
  • laysan island (25n171w0001)
  • saipan island (15n145e0002)
  • northwestern hawaiian islands
  • species richness
  • zoology
  • coral reefs
  • sarigan island (16n145e0003)
  • gardner pinnacles (25n168w0001)
  • fish census
  • kauai island
  • pacific ocean
  • rapid assessment studies
  • ecological dynamics
  • stationary point count
  • species identification - count
  • country/territory
  • midway atoll (28n177w0001)
  • rugosity
  • tinian
  • hawaii island
  • fish biomass
  • wake atoll (19n167e0001)
  • alamagan island
  • sarigan island
  • south pacific ocean
  • lisianski island (25n173w0001)
  • 587
  • tinian island (14n145e0005)
  • coral reef studies
  • coral reef ecosystem program

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