Image-based ecological assessment of deep-sea sponge, coral and other cnidarian assemblages through a morpho-functional approach : dataset and script repository

This DOI includes datasets compiling: matrices on megabenthos density, density of morpho-functional groups of sponges and cnidarians, environmental variables (per 200 m² sampling unit), and on the presence/absence of morphological traits for sponges and cnidarians; as well as supplementary information related to the publication ‘Image-based ecological assessment of deep-sea sponge, coral and other cnidarian assemblages through a morpho-functional approach’ (in preparation).
The data were collected as part of the PAMELA project (Bourillet et al., 2013) during the PAMELA MOZ01 (Olu, 2014) cruises aboard the R/V L'Atalante, and PAMELA MOZ04 (Jouet & Deville, 2015) aboard the R/V Le Pourquoi Pas ?, enabling the exploration of four seamounts (Glorieuses and Sakalaves, Jaguar and Hall Banks platforms) and the Bassas da India Island slope terrace. Data were also collected on three outer slopes (east, north and west) of the island of Mayotte during the BIOMAGLO cruise(Corbari et al., 2017) aboard the R/V L'Antea.  The images were captured from towed camera transects (SCAMPI, French IFREMER fleet).
The megabenthic community dataset comprised 99 taxa of varying taxonomic resolution, identified from 9,614 images using the online image annotation platform BIIGLE 2.0 (Langenkämper et al., 2017). Details of the method used to identify and classify megafauna in the images are described in Hanafi-Portier et al. (2021), and those of the selection and curation of the final megabenthic community database in Hanafi-Portier et al. (2024).
Details of the methodology used to produce the density matrices of morpho-functional groups of sponges and cnidarians are available in the Materials and Methods section of the publication ‘Image-based ecological assessment of deep-sea sponge, coral and other cnidarian assemblages through a morphofunctional approach’ (in preparation).
Details on the methodology used to produce the environmental dataset are available in the Materials and Methods section of Hanafi-Portier et al. (2024).
The datasets were used to assess the benefit of the morpho-functional characterisation in the assessment of (1) sponges and cnidarians diversity and spatial patterns at multiscales, (2) the environmental drivers shaping these morphological spatial structure, and (3) their potential structuring roles on the associated megafaunal communities overall.