This data set includes experimental results of fertilization assays to characterize genetic compatibility between individual parental genotypes. Targeted species include Acropora palmata and Orbicella faveolata. Microsatellite multi-locus genotypes for the O.faveolata parental population are included.

Acropora cervicornis, A. palmata and Orbicella faveolata are important reef-building coral species in the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). These species have experienced alarming declines throughout the FRT, resulting in an increased risk of inbreeding depression and susceptibility to decreased fitness in surviving colonies. Acropora cervicornis, A. palmata and O. faveolata are broadcast spawners, introducing genetic diversity through sexual recombination of gametes during annual spawning events. Successful reproduction during this time is critical for curbing the deleterious effects of inbreeding depression, and in successfully restoring wild colonies to self-sustaining levels of genetic diversity. A critical step in the reproductive cycle of these species is the success of gamete fertilization following mass spawning events. Several abiotic causes of gametic incompatibilities have been reliably observed in these species, and incompatibility between certain genotypes has been shown to occur. This dataset represents the collection of gametes from three coral species following nine spawning events in the Florida Keys during two spawning years (2019 and 2022), reciprocal fertilization trials with gametes from each parent and determined fertilization success for each cross. Additionally, tissue fragments were collected from each A. cervicornis parent, DNA was isolated from the tissue and single nucleotide polymorphism analyses were performed using the Axiom Coral-Algae Genotyping array (Axiom AcropSNP, ThermoFisher Scientific). This data package contains images of coral eggs post fertilization trial and the results in spreadsheet format. The raw A. cervicornis single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data are also provided.

This data release contains time-series photographs taken of corals and coral habitats in the Florida Keys between 1959 and 2015 at Carysfort Reef and Grecian Rocks (a total of six sites). The original intent was to show coral reef recovery after Hurricane Donna devastated the area in 1960. Corals, especially elkhorn and staghorn coral, grew prolifically after the storm until the late 1970s, then began to decline, with the maximum period of decline centered around 1983 and 1984. These time-series photographs, showing the same individual coral colonies year after year, document the decline in coral health observed at these locations, mirroring patterns seen region-wide across the western Atlantic. A selection of the photographs was previously published (in low resolution) in Lidz and others (2006), wherein findings and conclusions related to these data were discussed. Lidz, B. H., Reich, C. D., Peterson, R. L., and Shinn, E. A. (2006). New maps, new information: Coral reefs of the Florida Keys. Journal of Coastal Research, 22(2), 260-282, https://doi.org/10.2112/05A-0023.1

This data release contains time-series photographs taken of corals and coral habitats in the Florida Keys between 1959 and 2015 at Carysfort Reef and Grecian Rocks (a total of six sites). The original intent was to show coral reef recovery after Hurricane Donna devastated the area in 1960. Corals, especially elkhorn and staghorn coral, grew prolifically after the storm until the late 1970s, then began to decline, with the maximum period of decline centered around 1983 and 1984. These time-series photographs, showing the same individual coral colonies year after year, document the decline in coral health observed at these locations, mirroring patterns seen region-wide across the western Atlantic. A selection of the photographs was previously published (in low resolution) in Lidz and others (2006), wherein findings and conclusions related to these data were discussed. Lidz, B. H., Reich, C. D., Peterson, R. L., and Shinn, E. A. (2006). New maps, new information: Coral reefs of the Florida Keys. Journal of Coastal Research, 22(2), 260-282, https://doi.org/10.2112/05A-0023.1

Several parameters were used to assess coral bleaching in the Florida Keys as part of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP). The data described in this package are light, seawater pH, and coral symbiont assemblage data collected from the upper and lower Florida Keys. Light data was collected using a PAR sensor which measures light as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, umol m-2 s-1). Seawater pH was collected using a SAMI pH sensor or a SeaBird SeaFET pH sensor. These sensors were located at the same sites as the PAR sensors and recorded pH hourly. During peak bleaching (22-25 September 2015), 20 colonies of O. faveolata were sampled with a hammer and chisel from 10 sites (n=200 total coral samples). All corals were sampled from the top of the colony given that symbiont types can change with colony orientation. A small subsample was immediately preserved in 95% ethanol for genetic analysis. Genomic DNA was extracted using the organic extraction protocol described in Rowan and Power (1991). Quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays were used to understand patterns of algal symbiont community structure to detect the presence of background symbiont types. Zooxanthellae type and abundance data are described in this package to understand the relationship between O. faveolata and Symbiodinium to assess coral bleaching responses. Symbiont assemblages in the data set are described by clades A, B, C and D since O. faveolata has been shown to associate with members from all these clades.

This dataset includes population demographic data associated with bicolor damselfish (Stegastes partitus) that were collected from coral reef habitats at Pulley Ridge in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Florida Keys. The information includes individual fish data: lengths, weights, estimated fecundity, measurements of oocyte area, indices of spawning, otolith-derived ages, maturity, and fish densities derived from visual transects.

The U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center’s (USGS SPCMSC) Core Archive in St. Petersburg, FL contains a collection of coral-reef cores collected from throughout the Florida Keys reef tract (FKRT). In a previous study (Toth and Stathakopoulos, 2019), USGS researchers analyzed the upper, Holocene (~11,700 years ago to present) sections of those cores to evaluate how the coral composition of the FKRT changed over millennial timescales. Using the same methods, USGS researchers quantified the relative composition of late Pleistocene (~116 to 74 thousand years before present; Marine Isotope Stages [MIS] 5d, 5c, 5b, and 5a) sections of the coral reef cores dated by Hsia and others (2024a,b). This data release provides metadata about the location of the cores and summarizes the relative composition of coral taxa and other carbonates and the water depths (relative to modern mean sea level) of the analyzed core intervals. The data release also provides a summary of previously unpublished data (collected by David Weinstein) on the relative composition of an older Late Pleistocene reef (growing ~130–116 thousand years before present; MIS5e) from the subaerially exposed fossil reef at Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological Park. These data are compared with Holocene and modern coral-reef assemblages on the FKRT in Toth and others (2025).

This data set consists of an ArcView shapefile set that contains locations of sampled coral reef fish species at the National Marine Sanctuary along the Florida Keys. The dataset contains information about 5 classes of coral reefs, 216 fish species, and 6 benthic habitat.