The biological communities at ten sites around the Island of Tutuila, American Samoa were surveyed in October 2002 by a team of four investigators. Diving observations and collections of benthic observations using scuba and snorkel were made at six stations in Pago Pago Harbor, two stations in Fagatele Bay, and one station each in Vatia Bay and Fagasa Bay. These results were compared with all marine organism reports for these areas by previous investigators.

A survey of the marine communities of Midway Atoll harbor and surrounding lagoon was conducted at 12 sites from September 5 to 9, 1998. The primary focus of these surveys was the invertebrates of the fouling communities present on artificial substrates. Occurrence of reef fishes at each site was also recorded, and algae was collected and identified from four stations. A total of 444 taxa were identified (47 algae, 316 invertebrates, and 81 fishes) from all stations. Approximately 250 invertebrate and 35 algae species are considered new records for Midway Atoll. All fishes observed were previously recorded from the atoll. Only three invertebrates identified in this survey are considered to be nonindigenous species in the Hawaiian Islands. One introduced bryozoan, Amathia distans, dominated the fouling communities at most stations where artificial substrates were available. Another introduced bryozoan, Schizoporella errata, was also common at the same stations. A non indigenous barnacle, Chthamalus proteus, recently introduced from the Caribbean, was common on pier pilings inside Midway harbor. No introduced invertebrates were present in natural habitats. The introduced snapper, Lutjanus kasmira, was also present along the reef outside the lagoon. The threat to the native reef community by established non-indigenous species is considered minimal. The presence of these introduced species at Midway, especially Chthamalus proteus, suggests that vectors of future, potentially more deleterious introductions exist. Transport of these introductions was most likely as fouling on ship bottoms, but other sources of introductions, such as ballast water carried in ships, should be guarded against to protect the relatively pristine reefs of Midway Atoll.

A survey of the marine macroalgae and invertebrates in the intertidal and subtidal zones was conducted at seven sites around Kaho'olawe Island from January 12 to 14, 1998. A total of 298 species were observed or collected, including 152 taxa in the intertidal and 193 in the subtidal. Most of these are new reports for Kaho'olawe and include only 35 species previously reported, which were mostly reef corals and macroalgae. Data are provided as derived from the report: 1998-002. Coles, S.L., R.C. DeFelice, J.E. Smith, D. Muir & L.G. Eldredge. 1998. Determination of baseline conditions for introduced marine species in nearshore waters of the of Kaho`olawe, Hawai`i. Report prepared for the Kaho`olawe Island Reserve Commission. 13 + [22] p. http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pdf/kahoolawe.pdf

A baseline survey of the marine biota of the island of Lanai was conducted in May 2005. This was first comprehensive study that has been made on this island for all components of its marine nearshore community. Samples and observations were taken at seven sites around the island, and all macroalgae, macroinvertebrates and fish species collected or observed were recorded. On-site observations without collections were made at two other sites. Identified species were designated as native, nonindigenous (introduced) or cryptogenic (neither demonstrably native nor introduced) according to criteria used for previous introduced species surveys in Hawaii. A total of 294 taxa were observed or identified from collected specimens, which included 16 introduced or cryptogenic species and three new reports for the Hawaiian Islands. The 16 introduced and cryptogenic species comprised 5.4% of the total identified taxa and included seven cnidarians, one polychaete, two pericards, one decapod, one bryozoan, two ascidians and three fish. By station, the introduced/cryptogenic component ranged 3 to 7 species and 3.8% to 6.8% of the total biota. The stations included two sites at or near Kaumalapau Harbor, Lanai's principal harbor for inter-island shipping. The percent component values are similar to those that have been determined on ocean-exposed reef areas elsewhere in the Hawaiian Islands but the harbor value is well below the values in other Hawaiian harbors that are more isolated from open ocean circulation than Kaumalapau Harbor. No invasive introduced algae and only two invasive introduced invertebrates were found on the surveys. These were a single colony of the octocoral Carijoa riisei in the vicinity of Cathedrals between Manele Bay and Harbor, and a single stomatopod Gonodactylaceous falcatus at the site closest to Manele Harbor.

A baseline survey of the marine biota of the island of Lanai was conducted in May 2005. This was first comprehensive study that has been made on this island for all components of its marine nearshore community. Samples and observations were taken at seven sites around the island, and all macroalgae, macroinvertebrates and fish species collected or observed were recorded. On-site observations without collections were made at two other sites. Identified species were designated as native, nonindigenous (introduced) or cryptogenic (neither demonstrably native nor introduced) according to criteria used for previous introduced species surveys in Hawaii. A total of 294 taxa were observed or identified from collected specimens, which included 16 introduced or cryptogenic species and three new reports for the Hawaiian Islands. The 16 introduced and cryptogenic species comprised 5.4% of the total identified taxa and included seven cnidarians, one polychaete, two pericards, one decapod, one bryozoan, two ascidians and three fish. By station, the introduced/cryptogenic component ranged 3 to 7 species and 3.8% to 6.8% of the total biota. The stations included two sites at or near Kaumalapau Harbor, Lanai's principal harbor for inter-island shipping. The percent component values are similar to those that have been determined on ocean-exposed reef areas elsewhere in the Hawaiian Islands but the harbor value is well below the values in other Hawaiian harbors that are more isolated from open ocean circulation than Kaumalapau Harbor. No invasive introduced algae and only two invasive introduced inverterbrates were found on the surveys. These were a single colony of the octocoral Carijoa riisei in the vicinity of Cathedrals between Manele Bay and Harbor, and a single stomatopod Gonodactylaceous falcatus at the site closest to Manele Harbor.

Fish surveys were conducted in November 2007 using visual census techniques at Fagatele Bay under the guidance of Dr. Alison Green, the Nature Conservancy. This data set was collected at Transect 2, Fagatele Bay, in collaboration with surveys of NODC Accession 0066319, which is composed of coral and benthic surveys by Dr. Douglas Fenner and Dr. Charles Birkeland. Set 0066319 includes other locations on Tutuila, though this fish set is only from Fagatele Bay, and due to conditions, was restricted to Transect 2, at depths of 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18m.

Baseline surveys were conducted at numerous sites around each island, including those identified as "hotspots" by the Department of Aquatic Resources, around the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai. A total of 72 sites with 13 in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu alone. Alien and/or invasive algal abundance were ranked on a scale of 0 to 10 (0=0% cover, 10=100% cover) and includes habitat type (e.g., sand, lava bench, coral, rock, artificial substrate) and pertinent environmental correlates (e.g., depth, proximity to shore) at each site where invasive species are encountered. Sites where alien species presence have been documented in the past were resurveyed.

The Benthic Marine Communities Monitoring Protocol is implemented in four parks in the Pacific and addresses two monitoring questions: What are the changes over time in the composition (e.g., species or assemblage) and physical structure (rugosity) of the coral reef benthos? And what are the changes over time in settlement, growth, survival, and health of targe coral assemblages, species, or individuals? Note: Growth and survival data has not been collected due to lack of resources to do so. The Marine Fish Monitoring Protocol is conducted in the same parks and sampling location sites, and addresses one monitoring question: What are the long-term trends in the numerical density, biomass, and size of reef fishes? Sampling location sites were randomly selected on hard substrata in an isobath between the 10- and 20-meter depths. This data package contains data collected for these two protocols.