BRUVS Fish and Benthic Survey of Karmt Shoals with 5,748 Individuals

5,748 individuals from 212 species of fishes, sharks, rays, and sea snakes were observed at Karmt Shoals using 90 baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) between January 19 and February 4, 2004. The dataset, managed by the Australian Ocean Data Network, includes 1,074 images and records habitat classification, species identity with CAAB codes, arrival times, behavior, maturity, and relative abundance (MaxN). A custom Microsoft Access interface was developed by AIMS staff for reading and analyzing the BRUVS tapes.

Use Cases

• Modeling species abundance and distribution based on MaxN (maximum number visible at one time) and arrival time data.
• Classifying benthic habitat types based on recorded topography, sediments, and benthos observations.
• Analyzing fish feeding behavior and maturity (adult/juvenile) from the eight recorded behavior categories.
• Building a visual reference library for species identification using the approximately 3,500 best images stored from BRUVS projects.

Strengths

• Contains observations for 5,748 individuals from 212 distinct species.
• Includes 1,074 images and references a library of approximately 3,500 curated images.
• Records multiple ecological dimensions: species identity, behavior, maturity, habitat, and timing.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to a single survey location and period.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS)

Time Range

2004-01-19 to 2004-02-04

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-22 17:23:29.311963; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Karmt Shoals