National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) of Reef Fish, including Benthic Estimate Data of the Pacific Remote Island Areas since 2014

The stationary point count (SPC) method is used to conduct reef fish surveys in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SPC method 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. Visual estimates of benthic cover and topographic complexity are also recorded, with benthic organisms grouped into broad functional categories (e.g., 'Hard Coral', 'Macroalgae'). A stratified random sampling (StRS) design is employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S.-Pacific regions. For all regions, the survey domain encompasses the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats and the stratification includes island, reef zone, and depth, with the exception of the Main Hawaiian Islands that includes habitat structure type as well. Sampling effort is allocated based on strata area.

The reef fish and benthic estimate data provided in this data set were collected during SPC surveys as part of the  NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) led NCRMP missions around the Pacific Remote Island Areas from 2014 through 2025.

Tags: 743, animals/vertebrates, aquatic habitat, aquatic sciences, baker island, baker island (00n176w0001), benthic, biological classification, biosphere, central pacific ocean, coastal processes, coral cover, coral reef, coral reef conservation program, coral reef ecology, coral reef ecosystem division, coral reef ecosystem program, coral reef studies, coral reefs, corals, country/territory, cred, crep, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc/esd, earth science, ecological dynamics, ecosystem sciences division, ecosystems, equatorial pacific ocean, esd, fish, fish - coral reef, fish assemblages, fish biomass, fish census, fish species, fisheries, hi'ialakai, howland island, howland island (00s176w0001), jarvis island (00s160w0001), johnston atoll, johnston atoll (16n169w0001), kingman reef (06n162w0001), line islands, marine biology, marine ecosystems, national coral reef monitoring program, national marine fisheries service, nmfs, noaa, numeric data sets, ocean basin, oceans, oscar elton sette, pacific islands fisheries science center, pacific ocean, pacific remote island areas, pacific remote islands marine national monument, palmyra atoll (05n162w0001), pifsc, pria, primnm, ramp, rapid assessment studies, rapid ecological assessment, rea, reef, reef assessment and monitoring program, reef fish, reef fish census, reef habitat, reef monitoring and assessment, spc, species identification, species identification - count, species identification - organism length, species richness, stationary, stationary point count, survey, survey - biological, survey - swimmer/diver, u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, us doc, usa minor outlying islands, visual estimate, wake atoll, wake atoll (19n167e0001), zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce