Occurrence records of coral genera from long-term photoquadrat monitoring at three atolls of the Lakshadweep Archipelago, India (2001-2022)

This is one of the longest-running coral reef monitoring datasets in the northern Indian Ocean. Corals were sampled using 1 m × 1 m photoquadrats at two depth strata (shallow: c.8 m; deep: c.16 m) at two sites per atoll representing contrasting wave exposure (east-facing sheltered and west-facing exposed): Japanese Garden and The Groove (Agatti); Cave and Potato Patch (Kadmat); Black Tangs and Lighthouse Point (Kavaratti).

Eighteen to twenty quadrats were sampled per site per year, arranged in three to four lines. Surveys span ten years between 2001 and 2022, encompassing three marine heatwave events (1998, 2010, 2016) and their post-bleaching recovery periods. A total of 45 coral genera (Classes Anthozoa and Octocorallia) were recorded across 12,156 occurrence records.