Vegetative and morphometric corallite traits were quantified on skeletal samples of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (syn. Desmophyllum pertusum). The aim was to characterize the morphological diversity of this species at the level of corallites. Morphometric measurements were taken with caliper and tape measure in two replicates, in order to be averaged to reduce measurement error. The analyzed skeletal samples had been collected from various locations in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea during multiple cruises, and are kept at the Senckenberg am Meer (SaM) institute in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

Individual corallites are identified in the data table by the number of their generation (starting from 1, i.e. the oldest generation in the sample). Different corallites of the same generation cohort are distinguished by letters, which are cumulative (i.e. inherited from parent generations) to allow distinction between different branches. Non-reproductive corallites (i.e. with number of buds = 0) are not measured, to limit the effect of ontogenetic variation.