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National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish, including benthic estimate data of American Samoa

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 08:15 AM | Dataset Last Updated: April 03, 2024 at 12:00 AM
The reef fish survey data provided in this collection are gathered as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led National Coral Reef Monitoring Program missions around American Samoa. The stationary point count (SPC) method is used to conduct reef fish surveys in American Samoa as part of the ongoing NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SPC method used to gather these data 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 within this collection, 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 region. 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. Sampling effort is allocated based on strata area.

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0157588 0157597 0183543 0290375 biological data FISH - CORAL REEF FISH BIOMASS FISH CENSUS

Complete Metadata
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accessLevel non-public
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describedByType application/octet-steam
description The reef fish survey data provided in this collection are gathered as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led National Coral Reef Monitoring Program missions around American Samoa. The stationary point count (SPC) method is used to conduct reef fish surveys in American Samoa as part of the ongoing NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SPC method used to gather these data 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 within this collection, 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 region. 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. Sampling effort is allocated based on strata area.
distribution 
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions/iso/xml/NCRMP-Fish-AmSam.xml
issued 2016-12-19T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
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  "0157588",
  "0157597",
  "0183543",
  "0290375",
  "biological data",
  "FISH - CORAL REEF",
  "FISH BIOMASS",
  "FISH CENSUS",
  "FISH SPECIES",
  "INDIVIDUAL FISH EXAMINATION - LENGTH",
  "MACROINVERTEBRATE CENSUS",
  "REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - PERCENT COVER",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - COUNT",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - ORGANISM LENGTH",
  "swimmer/diver",
  "visual observation",
  "biological",
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  "visual estimate",
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  "NOAA Ship Hi'ialakai",
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  "NOAA Ship Rainier",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division",
  "American Samoa Reef and Assessment Monitoring Program (ASRAMP)",
  "Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)",
  "CORAL REEF STUDIES",
  "National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP)",
  "Pacific Reef and Assessment Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP)",
  "National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa",
  "Rose Atoll Marine National Monument",
  "South Pacific Ocean",
  "oceanography",
  "CRED",
  "CREP",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "ESD",
  "Ecosystem Sciences Division",
  "PIFSC",
  "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS > National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC/ESD > Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "743",
  "National Coral Reef Monitoring Program",
  "Numeric Data Sets > Biology",
  "Numeric Data Sets > Fish Census",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Species Richness",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Rapid Assessment Studies",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Reef Fish Census",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Reef Fish Census > Stationary",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Coral Cover",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Rugosity",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Fish",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Fish > Fish Assemblages",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Macroinvertebrates",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Macroinvertebrates",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > FISH",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > COASTAL PROCESSES > CORAL REEFS",
  "REA",
  "Rapid Ecological Assessment",
  "Reef Fish",
  "SPC",
  "Stationary Point Count",
  "VISUAL OBSERVATIONS > VISUAL OBSERVATIONS",
  "Ships",
  "Hi'ialakai (call sign: WTEY, ICES code: 33HL, 2004-)",
  "OSCAR ELTON SETTE (call sign: WTEE, ICES code: 33OC, 2003-)",
  "RAINIER (call sign: WTEF, ICES code: 315R, 1968-)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > American Samoa (14S170W0000)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Manu'a Islands (14S170W0038)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Ofu Island (14S169W0013)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Olosega Island (14S169W0014)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Rose Atoll (14S168W0001)",
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  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Tutuila Island (14S170W0016)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > Ofu Island > Ofu (14S169W0002)",
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  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > Ta'u Island > Ta'u (14S169W0015)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > American Samoa (14S170W0000)",
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  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Rose Atoll (14S168W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Swains Atoll (11S171W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Tutuila Island (14S170W0016)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Ofu (14S169W0002)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Ofu Island (14S169W0013)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Olosega (14S169W0016)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Olosega Island (14S169W0014)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Ta'u (14S169W0015)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Ta'u Island (14S169W0012)",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN > AMERICAN SAMOA",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "184PNL",
  "E5KWGA",
  "EM9C56",
  "JAYHPC"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2024-04-03T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/34520",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0157633"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -168.137,-14.560622,-171.093,-11.0453
temporal 2015-02-15T00:00:00+00:00/2015-02-15T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish, including benthic estimate data of American Samoa

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