Dataset: lionfish and goby counts
Deployment: Eleuthera_Reef_Surveys_2012

Counts of Elacatinus gobies on Bahamian reefs with controlled lionfish densities.

Lead Principal Investigator:

Mark Hixon (Oregon State University, OSU)

Scientist:

Lillian J. Tuttle (Oregon State University, OSU)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Shannon Rauch (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Project:

Ecological Release and Resistance at Sea: Invasion of Atlantic Coral Reefs by Pacific Lionfish (Lionfish Invasion)

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Version:

30 April 2013

Version Date:

2013-04-30

Data URL:

https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset-deployment/455957/data

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Description

An experiment was conducted on Bahamian reefs (at Eleuthera, Bahamas) in which red lionfish (Pterois volitans) densities were controlled on 8 paired reefs, one reef of the pair having low lionfish density artificially sustained and the other reef of the pair having high lionfish density artificially sustained. Censuses were taken of lionfish and gobies of the genus Elacatinus at each reef.

Methods & Sampling

Dataset acquisition description

Before altering lionfish densities, baseline surveys were conducted in July 2012 in which investigators counted all gobies of the Elacatinus genus at each reef, along with their estimated total length and group size (number of individuals of the same species within 1 m). A month after establishing lionfish density treatments each reef was re-censused for all Elacatinus gobies. Of the 16 reefs, DP L02 and DP K02 were not re-censused because lionfish density treatments were never satisfactorily sustained. ND 07 and ND 06 were also not re-censused because they were used in a pilot study for which gobies were removed.

Data Processing Description

Dataset Processing Description

BCO-DMO Processing Notes:
- Added lat and lon for each site from the metadata provided.
- Added the species column containing species names, based on species code and the metadata provided.
- Modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions.
- Replaced blanks with 'nd' to indicate 'no data'.
- 09-Jan-2018: removed embargo on dataset.

More information about this dataset deployment

Funding

Award Number	Funding Source
OCE-0851162	NSF Division of Ocean Sciences

Instruments

None available yet

Parameters

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
species_group_size	Number of conspecifics found within 1 meter of each other.	integer	abundance
initial_lionfish_count	Number of naturally occurring lionfish found at each dive site on the date of the original census.	integer	count
initial_census_date	Date on which initial census was conducted.	mm/dd/YYYY	date
date	Date on which census was conducted.	mm/dd/YYYY	date
day	2-digit day of month on which survey was conducted.	dd (01 to 31)	day
lat	Latitude of the site.	decimal degrees	lat
len_tot	Estimated total length of goby in centimeters. Total length is sometimes given as a range instead of a single number. This was done for larger groups of gobies for which it would be impractical to estimate the size of every individual. Assume that the frequency distribution (categorized into 0.5 cm size-bins) is normal, with the specified minimum and maximum total lengths for each group of gobies. (Originally named 'Estimated TL').	cm	length
lon	Longitude of the site.	decimal degrees	lon
month	2-digit month of year on which survey was conducted.	mm (01 to 12)	month
reef_quadrant	Area of the reef in which goby was counted: 1=top right quarter; 2=top left quarter; 3=bottom left quarter; 4=bottom right quarter.	integer	no_bcodmo_term
substrate	Type of coral, sponge, or other substrate on which goby was found.	text	no_bcodmo_term
species_code	Code representing the cleaner (goby) species: ELAT = Elacatinus atronasus; ELEV = Elacatinus evelynae; ELGE = Elacatinus genie.	text	no_bcodmo_term
site_id	Name of reef on which census was conducted.	text	site
species	Name of species.	text	species
year	4-digit year when survey was conducted.	YYYY	year

Database

Contribute Data

Dataset: lionfish and goby counts
Deployment: Eleuthera_Reef_Surveys_2012

Dataset acquisition description

Dataset Processing Description

Database

Contribute Data

Dataset: lionfish and goby countsDeployment: Eleuthera_Reef_Surveys_2012

Dataset acquisition description

Dataset Processing Description

Dataset: lionfish and goby counts
Deployment: Eleuthera_Reef_Surveys_2012