We conducted a long-term (12 months) multiple driver aquarium experiment under future environmental conditions at St Abbs Marine Station (UK) with the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa (syn. Desmophyllum pertusum) sampled from Tisler Reef (Skagerrak). The experiment consisted of four different treatments to investigate the combined effect of ocean acidification, warming, deoxygenation and food limitation on their physiology: 1) control (9 °C, pH 8.1, 100 % oxygen, 100 % food availability), 2) multiple stressor with high feeding (HF; 12 °C, pH 7.7, 90 % oxygen, 100 % food availability), 3) multiple stressor with low feeding (LF; 12 °C, pH 7.7, 90 % oxygen, 50 % food availability) and 4) reduced oxygen (9 °C, pH 8.1, 90 % oxygen, 100 % food availability). Every treatment consisted of three replicate tanks with four live corals (12 in total). Water parameters (temperature, salinity, pH and oxygen concentration) were measured five times per week in every coral tank. In addition to the live corals, ten dead corallites in the control and multiple driver HF treatments were used to investigate the combined effect of ocean acidification, warming and deoxygenation on their skeletal dissolution. The dead corallites were analysed at the Experimental X-ray Microtomography Laboratory at the University of Edinburgh using a µCT instrument built in-house after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.

This dataset covers the full 12-months experimental period and represents the final version to be used and cited. Previously (2024) published related datasets covering the first 6 months of the experiment are referenced here for completeness.