IMIS - Marine Research Groups

Benthic fauna data has been collected from 1881 to the present by the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratories at Woods Hole, MA (early years Bureau of Fisheries) and Sandy Hook, NJ (formerly with the Bureau of Sport Fisheries). Little data exists from 1881 to around 1955. After intensive sampling, data became sparse again after 1986. The data includes the work by Wigley and Theroux on the macrofauna of the Northeastern United States. Other major studies include Ocean Pulse, the Northeast Monitoring Program, New York Bight, 12 Mile Dumpsite, Long Island Sound and Raritan Bay surveys. Parameters included in these surveys include depth, sediment type, gear type, number, weight, family, class, genus, species name, and abundance. A total of 21,000 sample sites are included in this data set with 4,000 meters being the maximum depth sampled. Bottom temperature from MBTs and XBTs were measured from the 1960s to the present. These data are recorded on the Oracle database server of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center at Woods Hole. Hydrographic and chemical ancillary data, as well as some biological data can be found at the U.S. Geological Survey at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Note: Some records in the Northeast Fisheries Science Center Benthic Database may also occur in the Northeast Fisheries Science Center Bottom Trawl Survey Dataset. OBIS-USA did not eliminate this possible duplication because each dataset is a published unit, and OBIS-USA chose to maintain each as a complete representation of the original data. This possible overlap is a consequence of decisions made by the developers of the datasets. If you encounter identical records when working with these datasets, note that they in fact refer to the same observation event.