Spongivorous species abundance at survey sites on Caribbean coral reefs, 2008-2012 (Sponge Chem Ecology project) (NCEI Accession 0278023)

Acquisition Description:
From Loh, T.-L., and Pawlik, J.R. (2014) PNAS. See paper for citations referred to below:

Study Sites . Surveys were conducted on coral reefs at 69 sites from 12 countries across the Tropical Northwestern Atlantic marine province (referred to herein as "Caribbean" for brevity) from 2008 to 2012. At each location, sponge community data and fish densities were recorded at 3-11 geographically distinct sites (>2 km apart) by a team of three to four that only included personnel from among the same five surveyors to minimize interobserver subjectivity. Transect lines were laid out along a contiguous section of the reef at 10-20 m (except for the shallow reefs off Bocas del Toro, Panama, and two sites off Key Largo, FL, 2-7 m).

Surveys of Spongivores . The densities of spongivorous fishes were recorded at each survey site as described previously (22) (This dataset). The species monitored comprised all angelfish species, parrotfishes of the genus Sparisoma, and all species of trunkfishes, filefishes, and pufferfishes. Although the pufferfish Canthigaster rostrata was counted, this small, territorial, and very abundant species feeds primarily on small benthic crustaceans (37) and was not included in further analyses. Among all sites, only two, both at Bocas del Toro, Panama, had few fishes but several individuals of the sponge-eating seastar, Oreaster reticulatus, and these were included in the spongivore survey.