NOAA’s National Database for Deep-Sea Corals and Sponges: Data Set Dashboard (Program)

NOAA Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program (DSCRTP)

Report last ran on 2026-04-16

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Deep Fish Habitat Surveys

Locator Map

Geographic Range

  • Ocean: North Atlantic
  • Fishery Management Council Region(s): Gulf (formerly Gulf of Mexico)
  • Large Marine Ecosystem(s): Gulf of Mexico
  • Marine Ecoregion(s): Northern Gulf of Mexico

Bounding box

Coordinates are in WGS 84: EPSG:4326

  • Minimum Latitude: 27.80858
  • Maximum Latitude: 28.1762
  • Minimum Longitude: -94.30693
  • Maximum Longitude: -92.54276

Overview

Note: The numbers below only reflect published records. Additional records may be retained by the Program for further review.

  • Number of records: 3,976
  • Number of coral records: 3,976
  • Number of sponge records: 0
  • Records with images: 1466
  • Record type(s): still image, specimen
  • Minimum depth (meters): 50
  • Maximum depth (meters): 149
  • Number of records flagged as <50 meters depth: 0
  • Time frame: 2003 to 2012

Data Set Description: This is a subset of the Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program’s National Database. The data represent selected records of deepwater corals observed or collected during ROV surveys on banks in and around the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Since 2001, the sanctuary research team has conducted over 200 submersible surveys using ROVs and manned submersibles with a goal of habitat characterization. The coral records represent selected records of azooxanthellate corals (i.e., they do not include zooxanthellate stony corals) collected in a number of surveys since 2003, often annotated for particular projects (e.g., graduate theses on octocorals or black corals) and do not necessarily represent all of the corals in those locations. Additional coral and sponge records from more complete individual surveys are found in data sets NOAA_DFH-30 & NOAA_DFH-32-33. 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://flowergarden.noaa.gov/science/habitat.html

Data Set Level Citation

NOAA, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Observation date range: 2003 to 2012. Coral or sponge occurrence observations submitted to the NOAA National Database for Deep Sea Corals and Sponges (www.deepseacoraldata.noaa.gov). Principal investigator: Hickerson, Emma. DSCRTP Dataset ID: NOAA_FGBNMS_DFH. Database version: 20260416-1.

Note: Individual records within a data set may have additional citations in the ‘Citation’ field.

Taxonomic Summary

Percent of coral, sponge, and fish records by lowest taxonomic rank.

Corals

Number of coral records: 3,976

Taxon rank Percent of all
coral records
class 3 %
family 2 %
genus 70 %
species 24 %
subspecies 0 %

Sponges

Number of sponge records: 0

## No sponge records in this data set.

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
Acanthopathes thyoides 289313 Antipatharia Aphanipathidae 12
Antipathes 103302 Antipatharia Antipathidae 64
Antipathes atlantica 283882 Antipatharia Antipathidae 77
Antipathes furcata 103312 Antipatharia Antipathidae 107
Antipathes gracilis 283901 Antipatharia Antipathidae 23
Antipathidae 103301 Antipatharia Antipathidae 79
Aphanipathes pedata 283938 Antipatharia Aphanipathidae 7
Bathyalcyon robustum delta 1343380 Scleralcyonacea Coralliidae 15
Bebryce 125308 Malacalcyonacea Acanthogorgiidae 166
Callogorgia 125317 Scleralcyonacea Primnoidae 91
Chironephthya 415194 Malacalcyonacea Siphonogorgiidae 144
Chironephthya caribaea 418846 Malacalcyonacea Siphonogorgiidae 47
Diodogorgia 206386 Scleralcyonacea Spongiodermidae 23
Diodogorgia nodulifera 288872 Scleralcyonacea Spongiodermidae 1
Elatopathes abietina 289886 Antipatharia Aphanipathidae 224
Ellisella 125298 Scleralcyonacea Ellisellidae 697
Hypnogorgia pendula 290166 Octocorallia incertae sedis NA 358
Leptogorgia 125302 Malacalcyonacea Gorgoniidae 7
Madrepora carolina 287092 Scleractinia Madreporidae 4
Muriceides 125310 Malacalcyonacea Acanthogorgiidae 45
Nicella 125299 Scleralcyonacea Ellisellidae 712
Octocorallia 1341 NA NA 115
Oculina 135124 Scleractinia Oculinidae 4
Phanopathes expansa 290731 Antipatharia Aphanipathidae 28
Placogorgia 125312 Malacalcyonacea Acanthogorgiidae 1
Placogorgia mirabilis 286401 Malacalcyonacea Acanthogorgiidae 1
Plexauridae 125277 Malacalcyonacea Plexauridae 19
Plumapathes pennacea 290831 Antipatharia Myriopathidae 5
Scleracis 267830 Malacalcyonacea Scleracidae 242
Scleracis guadalupensis 418854 Malacalcyonacea Scleracidae 1
Stichopathes 103308 Antipatharia Antipathidae 193
Stichopathes luetkeni 1287835 Antipatharia Antipathidae 2
Swiftia 125314 Malacalcyonacea Plexauridae 33
Tanacetipathes 267888 Antipatharia Myriopathidae 41
Tanacetipathes hirta 291175 Antipatharia Myriopathidae 3
Tanacetipathes tanacetum 291180 Antipatharia Myriopathidae 63
Tanacetipathes thamnea 291182 Antipatharia Myriopathidae 4
Thelogorgia 267906 Octocorallia incertae sedis NA 10
Thelogorgia stellata 291213 Octocorallia incertae sedis NA 4
Thesea 125315 Malacalcyonacea Malacalcyonacea incertae sedis 303
Thesea rubra 418858 Malacalcyonacea Malacalcyonacea incertae sedis 1

Sponge Taxa Observed

Note: Nothing will appear here if no sponge taxa were observed.

## No sponge records in this data set.

Fish Taxa Observed

Note: Nothing will appear here if no fish taxa were observed.

## No fish records in this data set.

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