Reef-Wide Scaled Fish Biomass Comparison for the Rio Grande Valley Artificial Reef

24.4 tons of fish biomass, equating to 2.81 metric tons of carbon, were estimated for the Rio Grande Valley Reef. Allison K. White used a Simrad EK80 split-beam sonar to calculate biomass from fish echo returns and length-weight relationships. This dataset provides information on fish biomass and carbon storage in a 1,650-acre artificial reef in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.

Use Cases

• Compare fish biomass across different artificial reef structural types based on sonar survey data.
• Model carbon sequestration potential of fish populations in artificial reef ecosystems based on estimated biomass.
• Assess habitat effectiveness for fisheries support based on biomass estimates from a 1,650-acre reef area.

Strengths

• Provides a specific total fish biomass estimate of 24.4 tons for the reef area.
• Calculates a derived carbon stock metric of 2.81 metric tons from the biomass.
• Focuses on a defined 1,650-acre artificial reef site in the Gulf of Mexico.

Limitations

• Dataset size is only 5.5 KB, suggesting very limited scope or summary-level data only.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for detailed analysis.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Biomass calculated using fish echo returns from a Simrad EK80 split-beam sonar and length-weight relationships.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 17:28:31; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Rio Grande Valley Reef, northwestern Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas.