Sea Urchin Growth Study in Kaneohe Bay Reefs

Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii hosts a 2003 study examining the growth rate of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla for potential algae control on shallow reefs. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) provides this dataset, which includes measurements from both natural habitats and experimental introduction sites. The dataset's cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov indicates its established use in environmental research.

Use Cases

• Analyzing growth rates of Tripneustes gratilla across different reef sites for population studies.
• Assessing the potential of sea urchins as a biocontrol agent for macroscopic algae on coral reefs.
• Comparing ecological impacts at sites where urchins are naturally abundant versus sites where they were introduced.
• Studying spatial variation in marine invertebrate growth within Kaneohe Bay's reef system.

Strengths

• Dataset covers multiple specific reef sites (Sampan Channel, Reef 13, Reef 11, Coconut Island reef flat, Reef 22, Reef 29, Reef 19) within a defined study area.
• Organisms were individually tracked using PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tagging, enabling longitudinal measurement.
• Data is hosted by the authoritative NOAA NCEI and is available on multiple public data platforms.

Limitations

• Column names, row count, and dataset size are unknown from all provided sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, reporting both 2003-11-22 and 2026-03 06.
• License information is not provided, which may restrict certain uses.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Collection Method

Field measurements of growth from PIT-tagged sea urchins (Tripneustes gratilla) at multiple reef sites.

Time Range

2003

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:16:55.234342

Geography

Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, USA