Dataset: Emergence trap sampling of gnathiid isopods at Lizard Island, GBR, Australia 2016-2018

Name: Emergence trap sampling of gnathiid isopods at Lizard Island, GBR, Australia from 2016-2018
Published: 2023-01-13
Keywords: Gnathiid isopod, Great Barrier Reef, Long term monitoring, coral bleaching, fish parasite, biota, oceans

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Spatial Extent: N:-14.6645 E:145.4651 S:-14.6645 W:145.4651

Temporal Extent: 2016-07-01 - 2018-12-01

Project:

Beyond Cleaning and Symbiosis: Ecology of 'Ticks of the Sea' on Coral Reefs (Gnathiid isopod ecology)

Principal Investigator:

Paul C. Sikkel (Arkansas State University)

Co-Principal Investigator:

Alexandra Grutter (University of Queensland)

Contact:

Paul C. Sikkel (Arkansas State University)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Taylor Heyl (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Version:

Version Date:

2023-01-13

Restricted:

Validated:

Current State:

Data not available

Emergence trap sampling of gnathiid isopods at Lizard Island, GBR, Australia from 2016-2018

Abstract:

These data were collected as part of a long-term monitoring study of fish-parasitic gnathiid isopods on shallow patch reefs at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The data cover the period from 2000 to 2018. Gnathiid isopods, which spend most of their life free-living, were collected using 1-meter square by 1-meter high pyramid-shaped emergence traps placed randomly on the substrate. The total soak time for the traps was approximately 24 hours, divided into day vs night periods. Some of the patch reefs had cleaner fish, which are known predators of gnathiid isopods, removed over the course of the study (removal) while for others, cleaner fish remained (control).

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Methods & Sampling

These data were collected as part of a long-term monitoring study of 12 patch reefs off Lizard Island Research Station, GBR (14°40′S, 145°28′E), from July 2016 to October 2018. These reefs were part of a cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) removal study initiated in September 2000. For these data, only the Lagoon site was used, and L. dimidiatus were removed from six reefs (removals), approximately every three months, and left undisturbed on six (control) reefs.

Gnathiid abundance was estimated using 1-meter squared (m2) emergence traps. During all years, traps were set for three consecutive days at the Lagoon site, except for August 2017 (1 day). Traps were moved every 24 hours. Sampling was conducted around the full moon because gnathiid emergence at this site is highest at times of full and new moon. When an additional site (Casuarina Beach) was sampled as part of another study, the sampling order of each site was determined randomly (4 days before or after the full moon) when only the Lagoon reefs were sampled, this occurred after the full moon. In this study, only the Lagoon site was analyzed, with a maximum of 180 samples per sampling trip.

We obtained both a day sample and a night sample from each trap within a 24-hour period. Traps were positioned such that they would not cause damage to or be damaged by the reef. Thirty traps were positioned haphazardly across all reefs beginning at sunrise, with 2–3 per reef and the number depending on reef size. Sampling bottles were replaced with new ones at sunset each day to obtain daytime and nighttime samples. Samples from traps that were damaged or dislodged were excluded. Samples were processed by filtering the contents of the sampling jar through a mesh-lined funnel. Contents were sorted and gnathiids were counted under a dissecting scope.

The data presented here are part of a long-term study that began before the funding period of this project. During 2016 and 2017, sites experienced mass-bleaching events.

Data Processing Description

We are contributing raw data entered in EXCEL spreadsheets. The data were used as part of a larger study that extends beyond the reporting period for this project.

See "Results Publications"

BCO-DMO Processing Description:
- Adjusted field/parameter names to comply with BCO-DMO naming conventions
- Added a conventional header with dataset name, PI names, version date
- Converted dates in column "Fullmoondate" to format (YYYY-MM-DD)
- Removed “Month” and “Year” columns because they were redundant with “Monthyear” column.

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1536794

Deployments

None available yet

Instruments

Fish Cage

Supplied Name: Emergence trap

Supplied Description:

The emergence traps used for this study were constructed by our team.

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Fish Cage

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/90/

Generic Description:

Used to catch fish.

Parameters

Date and time formats are described in python strftime() syntax.

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
Area_sampled_identifier	Unique identifier for the area sampled under trap	unitless	site_descrip
Sampling_date_identifier	Identifier for sampling date: trip and day sampled combination	unitless	day
Sampling_trip_number	Sampling_trip_number	unitless	no_bcodmo_term
Trap_identity	Trap identity	unitless	sample
Monthyear	Month and year of sampling effort Format: %Y-%m	unitless	Date_Month
Site	Sample site at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef	unitless	Site_ID
Reef_identity	Reef identity at Lagoon at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef	unitless	region
Cleaner_presence_treatment	Cleaner presence treatment (control = yes cleaner, removal = no cleaner)	unitless	treatment
Daynight	Day or night sampling period	unitless	time_of_day
Vial_identity	Identity of sampling vial	unitless	sample
Isopod_count	Gnathiid isopod (Gnathiidae) count per trap	unitless	count
Time_of_day	Time of day trapping began	unitless	time_of_day
Soaktime	Soaktime (amount of time trap was deployed in minutes)	unitless	time_elapsed
Fullmoondate	Date of the full moon Format: %Y-%m-%d	unitless	date
Lunation_number	Number of the full moon	unitless	number
Fullmoondate_number	Date converted to a number	unitless	number
Day_sampled	Day sampled (of lunar period 3.5 being the full moon day, 4 the next day and so on)	unitless	day

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Dataset: Emergence trap sampling of gnathiid isopods at Lizard Island, GBR, Australia 2016-2018