Reef fish occurrence from long-term underwater visual census at three atolls of the Lakshadweep Archipelago, India (2011-2026)

Fish were censused along 50-m belt transects at two depth strata (shallow: 6–10 m; deep: 14–17 m) at two reef sites per atoll: Japanese Garden and The Groove (Agatti); Cave and Potato Patch (Kadmat); Black Tangs and Lighthouse (Kavaratti).

Surveys were conducted across eleven years spanning 2011–2026, with 415 transects conducted in total by six observers. A total of 281 fish species (Classes Teleostei and Elasmobranchii) were recorded. Each record in this dataset represents the occurrence of a species at a site in a given year, collated across replicate transects; the occurrenceRemarks field records the number of transects on which the species was detected out of the total transects conducted at that site.