All surveys were carried out by the principal researcher using Rapid Ecological Assessment. The dataset comprises 41 surveys from 21 reef locations, recording 42 species in 23 genera (dominated by azooxanthellate taxa). On each reef, 1-3 sites were surveyed with up to 5 transects (usually 200-300m long, 1-3m wide for 10-15 minutes) per site at pre-defined depths (1-3m, 3-8m, 8-13m, 13-18m and reef flat). Taxa recorded: octocorals (soft corals, gorgonians, sea fans, sea whips, sea pens, leather corals, arborescent octocorals, blue coral, stoloniferans), black and wire coral. Note that species are mostly at generic level. Taxa have been matched to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). This dataset was sourced on July 2018 from the original DiGIR dataset at OBIS and updated to reflect changes in the OBIS data requirements.