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National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Assessing and monitoring cryptic reef diversity of colonizing marine invertebrates using autonomous reef monitoring structures (ARMS) deployed at coral reef sites across the Mariana Archipelago

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: October 04, 2025 | Last Modified: 2018-09-28T00:00:00.000+00:00
This collection includes species identification data gathered from Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS). These ARMS are used by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) to assess and monitor cryptic reef diversity in the Mariana Archipelago as part of the ongoing National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). Developed in collaboration with the Census of Marine Life (CoML) Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs), ARMS are designed to mimic the structural complexity of a reef and attract/collect colonizing marine invertebrates. The key innovation of the ARMS method is that biodiversity is sampled over precisely the same surface area in the exact same manner. Thus, the use of ARMS is a systematic, consistent, and comparable method for monitoring the marine cryptobiota community over time. This data was gathered at specific reef sites across the Mariana Archipelago. At these sites, divers entered the water and deployed and/or recovered the ARMS unit. Each unit used to gather this data consists of 23 cm x 23 cm gray, type 1 PVC plates stacked in alternating series of 4 open and 4 obstructed layers and attached to a base plate of 35 cm x 45 cm which is affixed to the reef. They are designed to mimic the structural complexity of a reef and attract colonizing invertebrates. Please see the data to determine how long a particular unit was underwater as soak times can vary by location. Upon recovery, each ARMS unit was encapsulated, brought to the surface, and disassembled and processed on-board the research ship. Disassembled plates were photographed to document recruited sessile organisms and scraped clean and preserved in 95% ethanol for future DNA processing. Recruited motile organisms were then sieved into 3 size fractions: 2 mm, 500 um, and 100 um. The 500 um and 100 um fraction was bulked and preserved in 95% ethanol for future DNA processing. The 2 mm fraction was sorted into morphospecies. These DNA sequencing data are not included in this collection.

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0162461 0176414 biological data INVERTEBRATE SPECIES SPECIES IDENTIFICATION SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - COUNT visual observation biological laboratory analyses NOAA Ship Hi'ialakai Coral Reef Ecosystems Program NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division Coral Reef Ecosystems Program NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) CORAL REEF STUDIES National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) Pacific Reef and Assessment Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP) North Pacific Ocean Philippine Sea oceanography CRED CREP Coral Reef Ecosystem Division Coral Reef Ecosystem Program ESD Ecosystem Sciences Division PIFSC Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center DOC/NOAA/NMFS > National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC/ESD > Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce 743 National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) RAMP Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program Numeric Data Sets > Biology EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure (ARMS) EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef Monitoring and Assessment > In Situ Biological EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Brachyura EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Cryptobiota EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Biodiversity EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Census EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Macroinvertebrates EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES VISUAL OBSERVATIONS > VISUAL OBSERVATIONS ARMS Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure Ships Hi'ialakai (call sign: WTEY, ICES code: 33HL, 2004-) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Maug > Maug Island (20N145E0001) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Northern Mariana Islands > Northern Mariana Islands ( CNMI ) (18N146E0000) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Pagan > Pagan Island (18N145E0001) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > Northern Mariana Islands > Saipan > Saipan Island (15N145E0002) COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Guam > Guam (13N144E0000) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Guam > Guam (13N144E0000) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Mariana Archipelago > Northern Mariana Islands ( CNMI ) (18N146E0000) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Maug Island > Maug Island (20N145E0001) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Pagan Island > Pagan Island (18N145E0001) OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Western Pacific Ocean > Saipan Island > Saipan Island (15N145E0002) OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN CNMI Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Mariana Archipelago Mariana Islands Marianas Marianas Trench Marine National Monument Triennial BFK9C4 WUDKLL

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