Benthic invertebrate abundances associated with octocoral forests in St. John, US Virgin Islands from July 2019 to Jan 2020

These data represent the benthic invertebrates counted in association with various octocoral canopies as well as the composition of individual octocorals and the physical parameters (mean height, mean closure, and density) of octocoral canopies.

These data were used to test for the association of benthic invertebrate communities across a gradient of octocoral forest formation. Arborescent octocorals were excluded from invertebrate counts used to test for community association. Benthic surveys of invertebrates and octocoral forests were conducted on SCUBA during July – August of 2019 and in January of 2020 using the same quadrats (1 m2) placed at ≤ 13-m depth.

These data were collected as part of an NSF Coral Reef Time Series, Virgin Islands: Long-term coral reef community dynamics in the Virgin Islands National Park and were published in Girard and Edmunds (2023).