Inventory of Gulf oceanic fauna data including species, weight, and measurements. Cruises DP01 May 1-8, 2015 and DP02 August 9-21, 2015 R/V on the Point Sur in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

This data set includes the biological and environmental data for all of the species collected during the DP01 (May 2015) and DP02 cruises (August 2015). The main gear type used was a 10-m2 Multiple Opening Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System (MOCNESS). The MOCNESS was fitted with 6 nets which were opened according to the following depth scheme: net 0 from the surface to 1500m, net 1 from 1500-1200m, net 2 from 1200-1000m, net 3 from 1000-600m, net 4 from 600-200m, and net 5 from 200m to the surface. Two trawls were conducted at each station sampled to capture diel vertical migration information; one during daylight hours between 9am-2:30pm CDT, and the other at 9pm-2:30am CDT. A dipnet and a neuston net were also used to collect sargassum and other animals from the surface for genetic and stable isotope analyses. A table of the taxonomic hierarchy used in the nekton database will be included with references to those scientific names recently updated which are not yet reflected by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (www.itis.gov). The MOCNESS sensor data and ship data collected during cruise DP01 are available in GRIIDC datasets R4.x257.226:0002 and R4.x257.226:0003 respectively and for cruise DP02 in GRIIDC datasets R4.x257.226:0006 and R4.x257.226:0011 respectively.