Pacific Reef Cryptic Invertebrate Diversity from ARMS Units, 2010-2012

The Hawaiian Archipelago, Mariana Archipelago, American Samoa, and Pacific Remote Island Areas are covered by this dataset from the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. It contains data on colonizing marine invertebrates collected using standardized Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) deployed between 2010 and 2012. The program was developed in partnership with the Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems to provide a systematic method for monitoring cryptic reef biodiversity.

Use Cases

• Comparing cryptic invertebrate biodiversity across different Pacific reef sites based on standardized ARMS collection.
• Monitoring changes in cryptobiota communities over time using the consistent ARMS sampling method described.
• Analyzing recruitment patterns of sessile and motile organisms based on the documented plate scraping and sieving process.

Strengths

• Data collection uses a standardized ARMS unit design (23 cm x 23 cm plates, 35 cm x 45 cm base) for consistent sampling.
• Sampling occurred across multiple Pacific regions (Hawaiian Archipelago, Mariana Archipelago, American Samoa, Pacific Remote Island Areas) over a defined period (2010-2012).
• The method is designed to precisely sample the same surface area, enabling comparable biodiversity measurements.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• DNA sequencing data generated from the preserved samples is not included in this dataset.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) deployed and recovered by divers, with organisms processed onboard research ships.

Time Range

2010 to 2012

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-14 23:03:27.289383; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Hawaiian Archipelago, Mariana Archipelago, American Samoa, Pacific Remote Island Areas