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    • Assessing cryptic reef diversity of colonizing marine invertebrates using Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) deployed at coral reef sites in Timor-Leste from 2012 to 2014

    Metadata Updated: November 22, 2025

    The data described here, including photographs, genetic sequences, and specimen information, were collected by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) from Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures, or ARMS, moored for two years at fixed climate survey sites located on hard bottom shallow water (< 15 m) habitats in Timor-Leste. Climate sites were established in Timor-Leste in October 2012 to establish ecological baselines for climate change by measuring multiple features of the coral reef environment (in addition to the data described herein) over time.

    Three ARMS units were typically deployed by SCUBA divers at each survey site. Each ARMS unit, constructed in-house by CREP, consisted of 23 cm x 23 cm gray, type 1 PVC plates stacked in alternating series of 4 open and 4 obstructed layers and attached to a base plate of 35 cm x 45 cm, which was affixed to the reef. Upon recovery, each ARMS unit was encapsulated, brought to the surface, and disassembled and processed. Disassembled plates were photographed to document recruited sessile organisms, scraped clean and preserved in 95% ethanol for DNA processing. Recruited motile organisms were sieved into 3 size fractions: 2 mm, 500 µm, and 100 µm. The 500 µm and 100 µm fractions were bulked and also preserved in 95% ethanol for DNA processing. The 2 mm fraction was sorted into morphospecies, photographed, and identified to the lowest taxonomic identification possible. The plate photographs, sequences generated from the DNA metabarcoding of the scrapings and the 500- and 100-µm fractions, specimen photographs, and specimen identifications are included in the ARMS dataset. The data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

    ARMS are used by CREP to assess and monitor cryptic reef diversity across the Pacific. Developed in collaboration with the Census of Marine Life (CoML) Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs), ARMS are designed to mimic the structural complexity of a reef and attract/collect colonizing marine invertebrates. The key innovation of the ARMS method is that biodiversity is sampled over precisely the same surface area in the exact same manner. Thus, the use of ARMS is a systematic, consistent, and comparable method for monitoring the marine cryptobiota community over time.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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    Dates

    Metadata Date November 12, 2025
    Metadata Created Date October 19, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date November 22, 2025
    Reference Date(s) 2017 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NMFS PIFSC

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    A NOAA diver installing an ARMS unit.

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date November 12, 2025
    Metadata Created Date October 19, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date November 22, 2025
    Reference Date(s) 2017 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact, Custodian)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:46159
    Access Constraints Cite As: Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, [Date of Access]: Assessing cryptic reef diversity of colonizing marine invertebrates using Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) deployed at coral reef sites in Timor-Leste from 2012 to 2014 [Data Date Range], https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/46159., Access Constraints: None, Use Constraints: Please cite NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) when using the data. Suggested citation: Coral Reef Ecosystem Program; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2017). Assessing cryptic reef diversity of colonizing marine invertebrates using Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) deployed at coral reef sites in Timor-Leste from 2012 to 2014. NOAA's National Center for Environmental Information, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/46159., Distribution Liability: While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.
    Bbox East Long 125.49912
    Bbox North Lat -8.22438
    Bbox South Lat -8.85321
    Bbox West Long 125.01319
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update notPlanned
    Graphic Preview Description A NOAA diver installing an ARMS unit.
    Graphic Preview File https://origin-apps-pifsc.fisheries.noaa.gov/cred/images/arms_install_sm.jpg
    Graphic Preview Type JPEG
    Harvest Object Id ed74c886-ba7f-472d-911e-8953e9d65564
    Harvest Source Id c0beac72-5f43-4455-8c33-1b345fbc2dfe
    Harvest Source Title NMFS PIFSC
    Licence NOAA provides no warranty, nor accepts any liability occurring from any incomplete, incorrect, or misleading data, or from any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading use of the data. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether or not the data is suitable for the intended purpose.
    Lineage Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) field, laboratory, and analytical methods used for ARMS in Timor-Leste are described below. ARMS units were deployed for 2 years then collected to be both visually analyzed as well as genetically analyzed.
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[125.01319, -8.85321], [125.49912, -8.85321], [125.49912, -8.22438], [125.01319, -8.22438], [125.01319, -8.85321]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2012-10-15
    Temporal Extent End 2014-10-09

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