Reef Life Survey: Global Shallow Reef Fish Abundance and Presence Records

Global records of bony fishes and elasmobranchs collected by Reef Life Survey divers along 50-meter transects on shallow rocky and coral reefs. Abundance data is available for observations within quantitative survey limits, with out-of-survey records identified as presence-only. The dataset is provided by the Australian Ocean Data Network but has been superseded by newer collections from the National Reef Monitoring Network.

Use Cases

• Modeling global reef fish species distribution based on transect survey data.
• Analyzing relative abundance patterns of bony fishes and elasmobranchs in shallow reef habitats.
• Comparing quantitative survey data with presence-only records for different methodological analyses.

Strengths

• Data collected via standardized 50-meter transect methodology, enabling spatial comparison.
• Includes both quantitative abundance data and presence-only records, providing methodological context.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset has been superseded by newer collections, indicating it is not the most current version.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (via data_gov_au), collected by Reef Life Survey (RLS) divers.

Collection Method

Surveys conducted along 50m transects on shallow rocky and coral reefs, with abundance recorded within 50 x 5 m swathes.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 20:15:47.456368; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage of shallow rocky and coral reefs, with a focus on locations in Australia.