https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=reef_life_fish Graham Edgar Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) Associate Professor

Private Bag 14-901 Hobart Tasmania AU

Kevin Mackay NIWA Marine Database Manager

Private Bag 14-901 Wellington New Zealand 6241 NZ

Rick Stuart-Smith Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) Research Fellow

Hobart Tasmania AU

author 2018-08-09 eng Reef Life Survey is designed to develop and resource a network of skilled recreational divers for rapid and cost-effective assessment of the state of the inshore marine environment at the global scale. The project uses standardised underwater visual census methods employed by trained SCUBA divers to survey fish and invertebrate species and to record habitat type using photo quadrats - this dataset refers to the reef fish survey component only. The dataset generated by recreational divers provides a national framework for monitoring the state of the inshore environment and the identification of those threats and locations of greatest conservation concern. The project also increases awareness and interest by the recreational diving community in marine issues, and enhanced scientific capacity of personnel in regional areas. This dataset is a subset of the whole collection for the New Zealand and south western Pacific region only. For the full record, visit http://reeflifesurvey.com/reef-life-survey/survey-data/ Occurrence GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type.xml Observation GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml marine, harvested by iOBIS This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License. New Zealand and south western Pacific Ocean -105 160 0 -60 irregular Graham Edgar Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) Associate Professor

Private Bag 14-901 Hobart Tasmania AU

Data entry is completed via specially-designed Excel templates which contain species and site lists for specific regions. New Zealand and south western Pacific Ocean (taken from a global dataset) RLS applies globally standardised visual census methods used and developed in over 20 years of shallow reef biodiversity research. These involve divers recording fish and invertebrate species seen along underwater transects using underwater paper and a pencil. Although not high-tech, when undertaken by experienced surveyors, these allow coverage of species not able to be recorded by other methods, and are cost and time-effective. Photographs are also taken of the coral or seaweed cover on each survey. The complete methods cover the majority of plants and animals > 2.5 cm which make up the life of rocky and coral reefs. 2017-05-24T12:18:22.213+12:00 dataset Edgar, GJ and Stuart-Smith, RD (2017): Reef Life Survey (RLS): Reef Fish. v1.0. Southwestern Pacific Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Node. Dataset/Occurrence. https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=reef_life_fish&v=1.0 Edgar, GJ and Stuart-Smith, RD, “Systematic global assessment of reef fish communities by the Reef Life Survey program”, Scientific Data, 1 Article 140007. doi:10.1038/sdata.2014.7 ISSN 2052-4463 (2014) https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/logo.do?r=reef_life_fish https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?id=reef_life_fish/v1.2.xml