Characterization of the Mesophotic Benthic Habitat and Fish Assemblages from ROV Dives on Pulley Ridge and Tortugas during 2014 R/V Walton Smith Cruise Connectivity of the Pulley Ridge - South Florida Coral Reef Ecosystem: Processes to Decision-Support Tools

This 2014 Cruise Report provides a detailed SEADESC II characterization of the benthic habitat, benthic macrobiota, and fish populations for each ROV dive site surveyed in 2014 with the Mohawk ROV. Appendix 1 provides a complete species list and percent cover of benthic biota and substrate for each site at Pulley Ridge (PR) and Tortugas (T). Appendix 2 provides the densities of the fish species for each site. Appendix 3 provides the metadata for each ROV dive, multibeam maps with overlay of ROV tracks, images characterizing each site, along with detailed descriptions of each dive site. Prior to the cruises, we pursued a statistically rigorous sampling protocol for the ROV surveys. In ArcGIS a fishnet grid of 1 km x 1 km blocks were overlaid on the available bathymetric maps at both regions. Within each sampling block (“site”), we conducted five random100-m transects with the ROV to characterize that block. 2015 NA11NOS4780045 REPP-Connectivity-Pulley Ridge NOS (National Ocean Service) Library Public Domain 1936