Go back to data set index page: LINK
Please send feedback if you notice any problems with this data set.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Océano Profundo 2018: Exploring Deep-Sea Habitats off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Okeanos Explorer, November 2018.
- Dataset ID: NOAA_EX-18-11
- Database Version: 20260416-1
- Data Provider: NOAA, Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
- Data Contact: Salgado, Enrique: enrique.salgado@noaa.gov
Locator Map
Geographic Range
- Ocean: North Atlantic
- Fishery Management Council Region(s): Caribbean
- Large Marine Ecosystem(s): Caribbean Sea
- Marine Ecoregion(s): Eastern Caribbean, Greater Antilles, Bahamian
Bounding box
Coordinates are in WGS 84: EPSG:4326
- Minimum Latitude: 17.58952
- Maximum Latitude: 19.27898
- Minimum Longitude: -67.88958
- Maximum Longitude: -64.61303
Overview
Note: The numbers below only reflect published records. Additional records may be retained by the Program for further review.
- Number of records: 1,932
- Number of coral records: 1,039
- Number of sponge records: 893
- Records with images: 1932
- Record type(s): video observation | specimen
- Minimum depth (meters): 250
- Maximum depth (meters): 4,991
- Number of records flagged as <50 meters depth: 0
- Time frame: 2018 to 2018
Data Set Description: This is a subset of the Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program’s National Database. Océano Profundo 2018: Exploring Deep-Sea Habitats off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands was a 22-day telepresence-enabled expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect data on priority exploration areas identified by the ocean management and scientific communities. During the expedition, scientists explored a diversity of features with mapping and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations, including deep-sea fish habitats, deep-sea coral and sponge communities, midwater habitats, submarine canyons, submarine landslides, and other unique geological features. The data represent observations of deep-sea corals and sponges observed during deepwater ROV surveys by NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the following localities: East of Vieques, Buck Island Reef National Monument, South Puerto Rico, Caja de Muertos, West of Desecheo, Pichincho Wall East, Pichincho Wall East, Fishtail, South of St. Croix, Virgin Islands Trough South Wall, Punta Yeguas Reserve, East of Mona Escarpment, North of Bajo de Sico, Mona Island South Ridge, La Parguera Reserve, Jaguey Spur South, Mona Canyon West Wall, Vega Baja Landslide, Mona Canyon East Wall, West of Desecheo Island, and Mona Seamount. This research and exploration cruise was conducted between October 31 and November 19 of 2018. Changes to the original dataset may have been made to conform to the National Database Schema and for quality control purposes. Further information can be found at: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1811/welcome.html
Collection methodogy details:
See link for methods.
Link: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1811/welcome.html
Download comma delimited (CSV) file: LINK
Download data dictionary: LINK
Note: When importing CSV files into Excel, use the data import wizard (under the ‘data’ tab) and set all column types to ‘text’ to avoid data tranformation issues. This step will prevent the automated alteration of dates in Excel.
Download ISO metadata as xml: LINK
Data Set Level Citation
NOAA, Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. Observation date range: 2018 to 2018. Coral or sponge occurrence observations submitted to the NOAA National Database for Deep Sea Corals and Sponges (www.deepseacoraldata.noaa.gov). Principal investigator: Auscavitch, Steve | Williams, Stacy. DSCRTP Dataset ID: NOAA_EX-18-11. Database version: 20260416-1.
Note: Individual records within a data set may have additional citations in the ‘Citation’ field.
Expedition Details
| SurveyID | Vessel | VehicleName | SamplingEquipment | RecordType |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EX1811 | Okeanos Explorer R/V | Deep Discoverer ROV | ROV | video observation | specimen |
Taxonomic Summary
Percent of coral, sponge, and fish records by lowest taxonomic rank.
Corals
Number of coral records: 1,039
| Taxon rank | Percent of all coral records |
|---|---|
| class | 2 % |
| order | 7 % |
| family | 45 % |
| subfamily | 0 % |
| genus | 43 % |
| species | 2 % |
| NA | 1 % |
Sponges
Number of sponge records: 893
| Taxon rank | Percent of all sponge records |
|---|---|
| phylum | 2 % |
| class | 86 % |
| family | 10 % |
| genus | 2 % |
Fishes
Number of fish records: 0
## No fish records in this data set.Coral Taxa Observed
Note: Nothing will appear here if no coral taxa were observed.
| ScientificName | AphiaID | Order | Family | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acanella | 125303 | Scleralcyonacea | Keratoisididae | 4 |
| Acanthogorgia | 125293 | Malacalcyonacea | Acanthogorgiidae | 3 |
| Acanthogorgiidae | 125272 | Malacalcyonacea | Acanthogorgiidae | 21 |
| Acanthopathes | 267186 | Antipatharia | Aphanipathidae | 1 |
| Anthomastinae | 1510270 | Scleralcyonacea | Coralliidae | 3 |
| Antipatharia | 22549 | Antipatharia | NA | 46 |
| Antipathidae | 103301 | Antipatharia | Antipathidae | 2 |
| Bathypathes | 103304 | Antipatharia | Schizopathidae | 6 |
| Callogorgia | 125317 | Scleralcyonacea | Primnoidae | 25 |
| Candidella | 125318 | Scleralcyonacea | Primnoidae | 5 |
| Chrysogorgia | 125294 | Scleralcyonacea | Chrysogorgiidae | 14 |
| Chrysogorgiidae | 125273 | Scleralcyonacea | Chrysogorgiidae | 46 |
| Clavularia | 125286 | Malacalcyonacea | Clavulariidae | 1 |
| Coralliidae | 125280 | Scleralcyonacea | Coralliidae | 8 |
| Crypthelia | 117241 | Anthoathecata | Stylasteridae | 8 |
| Dendrophylliidae | 135074 | Scleractinia | Dendrophylliidae | 4 |
| Distichopora | 205513 | Anthoathecata | Stylasteridae | 25 |
| Elatopathes | 267407 | Antipatharia | Aphanipathidae | 1 |
| Ellisella | 125298 | Scleralcyonacea | Ellisellidae | 4 |
| Ellisellidae | 125274 | Scleralcyonacea | Ellisellidae | 28 |
| Enallopsammia | 135112 | Scleractinia | Dendrophylliidae | 3 |
| Heteropathes | 723286 | Antipatharia | Cladopathidae | 3 |
| Iridogorgia | 125295 | Scleralcyonacea | Chrysogorgiidae | 11 |
| Iridogorgia splendens | 286155 | Scleralcyonacea | Chrysogorgiidae | 2 |
| Javania | 135115 | Scleractinia | Flabellidae | 1 |
| Keratoisididae | 1544106 | Scleralcyonacea | Keratoisididae | 98 |
| Leiopathes | 103305 | Antipatharia | Leiopathidae | 1 |
| Madracis | 135125 | Scleractinia | Pocilloporidae | 59 |
| Madrepora | 135123 | Scleractinia | Madreporidae | 7 |
| Madrepora oculata | 135209 | Scleractinia | Madreporidae | 11 |
| Malacalcyonacea | 1609357 | Malacalcyonacea | NA | 4 |
| Metallogorgia | 125296 | Scleralcyonacea | Chrysogorgiidae | 6 |
| Narella | 125319 | Scleralcyonacea | Primnoidae | 2 |
| Nicella | 125299 | Scleralcyonacea | Ellisellidae | 14 |
| Octocorallia | 1341 | NA | NA | 23 |
| Paramuricea | 125311 | Malacalcyonacea | Acanthogorgiidae | 3 |
| Parantipathes | 103306 | Antipatharia | Schizopathidae | 8 |
| Pennatuloidea | 1609360 | Scleralcyonacea | NA | 12 |
| Plexauridae | 125277 | Malacalcyonacea | Plexauridae | 93 |
| Plumarella | 177839 | Scleralcyonacea | Primnoidae | 7 |
| Primnoidae | 125278 | Scleralcyonacea | Primnoidae | 29 |
| Protoptilum | 128498 | Scleralcyonacea | Protoptilidae | 1 |
| Schizopathidae | 266964 | Antipatharia | Schizopathidae | 4 |
| Scleractinia | 1363 | Scleractinia | NA | 25 |
| Solenosmilia variabilis | 135168 | Scleractinia | Caryophylliidae | 3 |
| Stichopathes | 103308 | Antipatharia | Antipathidae | 103 |
| Stylasteridae | 22805 | Anthoathecata | Stylasteridae | 134 |
| Stylopathes | 267875 | Antipatharia | Stylopathidae | 110 |
| Stylopathidae | 266965 | Antipatharia | Stylopathidae | 1 |
| Tanacetipathes | 267888 | Antipatharia | Myriopathidae | 1 |
| Umbellula | 1757986 | Scleralcyonacea | Umbellulidae | 5 |
Sponge Taxa Observed
Note: Nothing will appear here if no sponge taxa were observed.
| ScientificName | AphiaID | Order | Family | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bathydorus | 132123 | Lyssacinosida | Rossellidae | 1 |
| Chondrocladia | 131894 | Poecilosclerida | Cladorhizidae | 1 |
| Cladorhiza | 131895 | Poecilosclerida | Cladorhizidae | 3 |
| Cladorhizidae | 131644 | Poecilosclerida | Cladorhizidae | 18 |
| Demospongiae | 164811 | NA | NA | 433 |
| Euplectella | 132114 | Lyssacinosida | Euplectellidae | 7 |
| Euplectellidae | 131692 | Lyssacinosida | Euplectellidae | 17 |
| Farreidae | 131689 | Sceptrulophora | Farreidae | 32 |
| Geodiidae | 131664 | Tetractinellida | Geodiidae | 1 |
| Hexactinellida | 22612 | NA | NA | 331 |
| Hyalonema | 132096 | Amphidiscosida | Hyalonematidae | 1 |
| Hyalonematidae | 131684 | Amphidiscosida | Hyalonematidae | 19 |
| Petrosiidae | 131638 | Haplosclerida | Petrosiidae | 3 |
| Phakellia | 131779 | Bubarida | Bubaridae | 2 |
| Polymastiidae | 131673 | Polymastiida | Polymastiidae | 3 |
| Porifera | 558 | NA | NA | 20 |
| Tretopleura | 171623 | Sceptrulophora | Uncinateridae | 1 |