Stable isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in coral tissue collected aboard multiple cruises around areas of natural seepage in the Gulf of Mexico from 2015-04-29 to 2017-08-04

This dataset contains the stable isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in coral tissue collected aboard multiple cruises (E/V Nautilus, Ocean Inspector, Ocean Intervention II, Ocean Project) around areas of natural seepage in the Gulf of Mexico from 2015-04-29 to 2017-08-04. The stable isotopic compositions of coral tissue were analyzed as part of a larger study to investigate the effects of natural seepage on corals in the Gulf of Mexico. Colonies of the octocorals Callogorgia delta and Paramuricea sp. type B3 growing near signs of seepage and colonies growing away from signs of seepage were collected. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic compositions of coral tissue were analyzed to determine any input of chemoautotrophic primary production into the coral diet. The dataset includes sample collection information including the species name, site, sample ID, collection date, location coordinates (latitude and longitude), depth, and cruise information. This dataset supports the publication: Vohsen, S. A., Anderson, K. E., Gade, A. M., Gruber-Vodicka, H. R., Dannenberg, R. P., Osman, E. O., … Baums, I. B. (2020). Deep-sea corals provide new insight into the ecology, evolution, and the role of plastids in widespread apicomplexan symbionts of anthozoans. Microbiome, 8(1). doi:10.1186/s40168-020-00798-w