By Kathryn M. Scanlon¹, Rhian G. Waller^2,3, Alexander R. Sirotek^1,4, Julia M. Knisel^1,5, John J. O'Malley¹ and Stian Alesandrini^1,6

Large white octocorals and smaller pinkish hydrocorals crown the top of a carbonate pinnacle near the shelf edge in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Small black scleractinian corals of the genus Cladopsammia can be seen in the foreground. Photo taken by an ROV operated by Lance Horn (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/ National Undersea Research Program) during a cruise of the R/V Liberty Star in 2005 (Scanlon, unpublished data).

¹ U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA
² Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
³ Present address: University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
⁴ Present address: CDM, Boston, MA
⁵ Present address: Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, Boston, MA
⁶ Present address: Raytheon Corporation, Denver, CO

U.S. Department of the Interior
KEN SALAZAR, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey
Marcia K. McNutt, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2010

For product and ordering information:
World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod/
Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment:
World Wide Web:  http://www.usgs.gov/
Telephone:  1-888-ASK-USGS

Suggested citation:
Scanlon, K.M., Waller, R.G., Sirotek, A.R., Knisel, J.M., O’Malley, J.J., and Alesandrini, Stian, 2010, USGS cold-water coral geographic database—Gulf of Mexico and western North Atlantic Ocean, version 1.0: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008–1351, CD-ROM. (Also available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1351/).

This database, identified as U.S. Geological Survey Cold-Water Coral Geographic Database (CoWCoG), has been approved for release and publication by the Director of the USGS. Although this database has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use.

Neither the U.S. Government, the Department of the Interior, nor the USGS, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report.