Dataset: Reattachment of octocoral polyps following a stress event and polyp bailout in sea tables in St. John, US Virgin Islands in August of 2019

Methodology: 

Fifteen branches of Eunicea flexuosa were collected from an octocoral-dominated reef in Round Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands on 14–15 July, 2019. Colonies were maintained in a sea table at the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station. Due to a sea table malfunction overnight, the water level was reduced, so only the lowest five centimeters of each branch was submerged. The water level was returned to normal height after at most 8 h. Colonies were visibly stressed and five days after being exposed to air, bailed-out polyps were observed and collected with a 150-µm mesh filter attached to the outflow of the sea table. To determine if these polyps could reattach, 40 bailed-out polyps were placed in a 1-L dish with a stoneware clay tile (14 × 7 × 1 cm). The tile was examined for signs of attachment after 9 days by gently jetting water from a transfer pipette at polyps that appeared to have reattached.