A crosstransplantation experiment between sites of high (Liliguapi) and low pH (XHuinay) was started in 2014 with specimen of the scleractinian coral Tethocyathus endesa. After collection the corals were glued onto polyvinylchloride screws in order to be attached to holders that were installed at the collection sites. Originally 20 corals were collected at each site of which 10 were reinstalled at the same site and 10 were reinstalled at the respective other site. During annual expeditions, the respiration rate of the corals was measured and presented below are the results from 2016. For the measurement, the corals were collected and, with their screw, were each attached to an implemented mount in the lid of a 100 ml glass bottles (Schott AG, Mainz, Germany) that was filled with ambient sea water and then closed air-free on site. Two bottles were filled only with ambient sea water and served as controls during the experiment. A small magnetic stir bar was also added to each bottle on site. In the laboratory of the Huinay Scientific Field Station, the bottles were placed in a water bath in which a constant temperature of 13.17 +/- 1.15°C was established through a continuos water flow. The water bath was placed on a stirring table (IKA RO15, IKA-Werke GmbH & Co. KG, Staufen, Germany), which together with the magnetic stir bar inside each bottle, ensured a constant water movement in each glass bottle throughout the incubation period of 12h. After the incubation, the corals were removed from the glass bottles and the water oxygen content was measured for all samples, including the two control samples, using a Standard Luminescent-Probe for dissolved oxygen (LDO101, Hach Lange GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany). During the collection of the corals, the oxygen content of the ambient sea water ("in situ water") was also measured which served as the initial water oxygen content. The start and end oxygen values were used to calculate the oxygen consumption by the corals, which was also corrected for background respiration from microorganisms using the controls. Respiration rates were then corrected for the incubation volume (inside the glass bottles) and time and for the calyx surface area of each coral. The pH of the water was measured using a Standard-Electrode filled with liquid electrolyte (LDO101 and PHC301, Hach Lange GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany). Both the oxygen probe and the pH electrode measured the temperature of the water as well.This dataset was generated within the framework of the co-operation between the Huinay Scientific Field Station (http://www.huinay.cl) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (http://www.awi.de)