Global Asteroidea Occurrence Data

This is a dataset to accompany a paper to Nature Ecology and Evolution: Carter, Hugh. F; Bribiesca-Contreras, G; Williams, Suzanne T. 2025. Deep seafloor diversity in Asteroidea is shaped by competing processes across different latitudes and oceans. The dataset consists of a manually curated set of occurrence records for 1751 species of Asteroidea (Echinodermata). Fields presented are: Order, Family, Genus, Species, Subspecies, Latitude, Longitude, Minimum Depth, Maximum Depth and Reference (for Manually added specimens only). The full geographic validation and cleaning process is laid out in the methods of the paper attached to this dataset. These data were used to generate spatial patterns of Asteroidea species richness across the global oceans. Most data were compiled from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF ) or the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS). An additional set of occurrence records were compiled from literature sources and collection specimens at the Natural History Museum (London) and a reference is provided for these records.