Personnel from the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, National Ocean Service, NOAA, Panama City Laboratory, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the National Park Service, the University of Hawaii Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, and Botany Department, the University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the University of Puerto Rico, and the Institute de Ciencias do Mar in Brazil conducted a Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs) biodiversity census at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument as part of the international Census of Marine Life (CoML). To increase baseline knowledge of biodiversity at a select ___location on a gradient of human disturbance, namely French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument (Papahanaumokuakea), from 08 - 28 October, 2006, 13 scientists, selected locally and internationally for their expertise, conducted biodiversity surveys and specimen collection using a suite of sampling techniques. Lesser known cryptic invertebrates, algae, and microbes were targeted to fill gaps in current knowledge. Specimens were photodocumented, and up to 5 specimens from each morphospecies were preserved for further identification, molecular analysis, and retention in museum collections.