Specimen-based records and geographic locations of brittle stars (Echinodermata) collected from Sagami Bay

Brittle stars are marine invertebrates that often dominate the seafloor. Their global distribution and abundance make them useful as marine environmental bio-indicators. Despite their importance, however, there is limited availability of data on brittle star specimens in Japan. In this study, we focused on Sagami Bay, one of the oldest Japanese marine areas for the study of brittle stars, and organized the data from the specimens collected there. This collection included specimens collected between 2005 and 2021, comprising a total of 695 samples, which were identified as 108 species. All data are deposited in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) through the Japan Node of GBIF and are thus accessible via the GBIF portal under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The Metadata for this abstract published in the Data Article section of the journal is available in MetaCat in JaLTER at https://jalter.diasjp.net/data/ERDP-2025-01.