Introduction: Dataset 'BrittonEtAl2017_KigomaTown.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_KigomaDeforested.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_Jakobsen’sBeach.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_KalilaniVillage.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_GombeNP.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_MahaleNPS1.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_MahaleNPS2.csv': This dataset was used to compare diversity in Lake Tanganyika rocky shore cichlid communities (measured through differences in alpha, beta and zeta diversity) across 7 localities in the Tanzanian section of Lake Tanganyika. The localities include Kigoma Town, Kigoma Deforested, Jakobsen’s Beach, Kalilani Village, Gombe NP, Mahale NP S1 and Mahale NP S2. At each locality data were collected from a varying number of sites with daytime stationary visual SCUBA surveys conducted by Adam Britton in January-April 2015. At each site a nested survey design was employed at 5m and 10m depths with distances between surveys at localities ranging from 10m to 12km. Underwater survey geolocations are estimated from site GPS coordinates, and are based on the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system 35M. The seven files contain UTM coordinates of each survey within the locality, and abundance data for all rocky shore cichlid species (rows) encountered at each survey (columns). Kigoma Town and Gombe NP comprise 10 sites and 138 surveys each, Mahale NP S1 comprises 6 sites and 83 surveys, Kalilani Village comprises 4 sites and 56 surveys, Mahale NP S2 comprises 6 sites and 55 surveys, and Kigoma Deforested and Jakobsen’s Beach comprise 3 sites and 42 surveys each. For additional information please see our publication. For questions, please contact David Murrell at d.murrell@ucl.ac.uk. Data Description: Dataset 'BrittonEtAl2017_KigomaTown.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_KigomaDeforested.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_Jakobsen’sBeach.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_KalilaniVillage.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_GombeNP.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_MahaleNPS1.csv'; 'BrittonEtAl2017_MahaleNPS2.csv': Row Headings: R1= Site number R2= Survey number of site R3= Easting coordinate R4= Northing coordinate Column Headings: Column A= Species names