Global cold-water coral diversity dataset

Comprehensive and quality-controlled distribution data for cold-water corals of the orders Alcyonacea, Antipatharia, Pennatulacea, Scleractinia, Zoantharia of the subphylum Anthozoa, and order Anthoathecata of the class Hydrozoa. Distribution records were gathered from online repositories and literature sources, standardized with the Darwin Core Standard, dereplicated, taxonomically corrected and flagged for potential geographic and vertical distribution errors based on peer-reviewed literature and expert consulting. The dataset comprises 817,559 quality-controlled records of 1,105 accepted species, representing the most comprehensive baseline for the global cold-water coral diversity. The dataset is openly available under the FAIR principle of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability of data.