American Samoa Reef Fish and Benthic Surveys from NOAA NCRMP Missions

NOAA's National Coral Reef Monitoring Program collected reef fish and benthic data in American Samoa using stationary point count surveys. The data includes species richness, abundance, biomass, and benthic cover estimates from stratified random sampling missions in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2023. Surveys were conducted by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center's Ecosystem Sciences Division in shallow-water hard-bottom habitats.

Use Cases

• Model reef fish biomass trends based on species abundance and density data.
• Analyze benthic habitat composition based on functional categories like 'Hard Coral' and 'Macroalgae'.
• Assess sampling bias in survey methods based on comparisons of open-circuit SCUBA and closed-circuit rebreather data.
• Evaluate coral reef ecosystem stratification based on island, reef zone, and depth variables.

Strengths

• Data collected across four distinct survey years: 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2023.
• Survey methodology is explicitly described, using stationary point counts and stratified random sampling.
• Includes complementary data from a separate 2016 Reef Fish Survey cruise funded by PIFSC.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the American Samoa survey domain.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Stationary point count (SPC) surveys and visual benthic estimates using stratified random sampling.

Time Range

2015, 2016, 2018, 2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-14 23:03:40.697750; freshness should be verified.

Geography

American Samoa