OBIS-USA brings together marine biological occurrence data – recorded observations of identifiable marine species at a known time and place, collected primarily from U.S. Waters or with U.S. funding. Coordinated by the Core Science, Analytics, Synthesis, and Libraries (CSAS&L) Program of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), OBIS-USA, strives to meet national needs for access to marine data about the organisms and ecosystems.

OBIS-USA is part of an international data sharing network (Ocean Biogeographic Information System, OBIS) coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange. Federal coordination is done in collaboration with the participants of the ad hoc Biodiversity working group organized under the Interagency Working Group on Ocean Partnerships Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology.

The data contained in OBIS-USA may be used in two different ways. First, using the data dashboard, users can visually examine the full collection of data down to the record level. Second, the Biogeographic Analysis Tool provides an analysis or summary of the biodiversity for defined geographic regions.