AIMS Long-term Monitoring Program: Visual Census Fish Data (Great Barrier Reef)

70 selected reefs throughout the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are sampled in the AIMS Long-term Monitoring Project (LTMP). Underwater visual census is used to survey reef fishes on fixed transects (3 sites per reef, 5 x 50 m transects per site). The abundance and length of all diurnally active, non-cryptic fishes are recorded. A full list of species observed each year can be obtained on request.The overarching goal of LTMP fish surveys are to detect changes in reef fish communities over time at a regional scale, but also to examine the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas.All fish species counted are largely non-cryptic, easily identified underwater and include both commercial and non-commercial taxa. Because surveys span the annual recruitment season, 0+ individuals are excluded from counts: these are distinguished from adults by their small size and often distinctive colouration.Abundance data for each fish species is subsequently summed over the five transects at each site on each reef to provide reasonable sample sizes for analysis and interpretation.Updated results of surveys can be found at:https://apps.aims.gov.au/reef-monitoring/reefsA subset of the data has been provided to the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, http://www.iobis.org/explore/#/dataset/3936).Data have been used for the e-Atlas:http://eatlas.org.au/data/uuid/05bde62a-70ec-407b-b999-30cf369498af