Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Benthic Organisms

Benthic organism occurence data from the Outer Continental Shelf of the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico are available at OBIS. The OBIS compiled data includes species name, individual count, lat/lon, and some environmental correlates like depth and salinity. 

Dataset Location: OBIS Gulf of Mexico Benthic Organisms

Direct Download: OBIS Gulf of Mexico Benthic Organisms

Site Location: TX, MS, AL, FL Coast; Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf

Site(s) Georeferenced: Yes

Timespan: 1974 - 1978

Sampling Frequency:

Data Collection Summary / Methods: Benthic organisms data were collected using sediment sampler, net casts, point sampling (grab or core) and tow (dredge or trawl). The data are from field sampling or surveys of bottom dwelling marine organisms in F132 format.

Data collected: species id, count, wet weight

Original data includes subsets Epifauna, Infauna, and Meiofauna benthic organisms data that roughly correspond to the different sampling methods and collecting institutions that were part of this study. Cruise information such as vessel, start and end dates, investigator, and institution/agency; station numbers, positions and times; and equipment and methods are reported for each survey. 

OBIS data schema: species name, individual count, date, location, temperature, depth, salinity, nitrogen, oxygen, silicate.

Known Issues: The project title on OBIS 'South TX Outer Continental Shelf and MI, AL, and FL Outer Continental Shelf Benthos organism sampling 1974-1978' incorrectly lists Mississippi's abreviation as 'MI'. Mississippi is abbreviated 'MS'.

Best Practices: tips for separating the wheat from the chaff
 
Conditions for use: 'freely available' and 'open-access' as per OBIS: http://iobis.org/about/vision

Citation/ Distributing Authors: US National Oceanographic Data Center. 2011. South TX Outer Continental Shelf and MI, AL, and FL Outer Continental Shelf benthic organism sampling 1974-1978. US National Oceanographic Data Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.Retrieved from http://www.usgs.gov/obis-usa/. 

Supplemental resources:

 Available via the EcoData Retriever: No