Puerto Rico Long-Term Coral Reef Monitoring Program database compilation: substrate cover percent, octocoral colony counts, macro invertebrate densities, fish densities, and fish biomass from 1999 to 2025 (NCEI Accession 0204647)

The Puerto Rico Coral Reef Monitoring Program data files include all raw data (by transect) for 86 stations where substrate cover by sessile-benthic categories and fish and motile megabenthic invertebrate taxonomic composition and densities have been characterized from 1999-2025. At present, 42 of these stations are permanent and are surveyed biannually. For the benthic characterization, at each reef station, a set of five 10 meters long permanent transects are surveyed. Sessile-benthic reef communities are characterized by the continuous intercept chain-link method, following the CARICOMP (1994) protocol. Demersal diurnal non-cryptic reef fish populations and motile megabenthic invertebrates are surveyed by sets of five 10 meters long by 3 meters wide (30 m2) belt-transects centered along the reference line of transects used for sessile-benthic characterizations at each reef station. Upon completion of the 10 meters belt-transect survey the diver swims along the same depth and physiographic reef zone for an extra 10 meters to identify fishes and megabenthic invertebrates of commercial value (snappers, groupers, hogfishes, barracuda, mackerels, sharks, lobsters and queen conch) and/or fish species that are considered important reef herbivores (parrotfishes, doctorfishes). For each fish individual within belt-transects, a visual total length (TL) estimate in centimeters was recorded. The cephalothorax length (measurement from the tip of the rostrum to end of the thorax), also known as carapace length (CL) in centimeters was used to report the size of lobsters (Panulirus spp., Scyllarides sp) within belt-transects. Queen conch (Strombus gigas) length was reported as the total (diagonal) shell length in centimeters. With the length-weight relationship information available in FishBase.org, biomass estimates have been calculated for commercially and ecologically important species. The PRCRMP data files also include a site classification spreadsheet with descriptors for each monitoring station, some of which can be used as spatial and temporal factors for statistical analyses. These descriptors include information about depth, habitat type, distance from shore, marine protected areas attributes, coordinates, and other metadata.