On July 21-26, 2018 the SEDCI supported a five-day expedition aboard the R/V Manta. Led by Emma Hickerson, the expedition surveyed banks in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico using the ROV Mohawk operated by the UNCW-UVP. Funds provided by the SEDCI paid for five days of ship time of the R/V Manta, which leveraged five days of ROV operations at no additional cost to the project. During the expedition, 14 ROV dives were completed to depths between 40-130 m. These dives targeted four different banks around FGBNMS (Geyer, East Flower Garden Bank, Bright Bank Complex, and Elvers) and focused on collecting information to characterize the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico, including sites within proposed expansion of the FGBNMS (ONMS 2016). Still images will be processed by Raven Walker (FGBNMS) to quantify the benthic fauna on the banks. Additionally, 20 coral samples were collected during the expedition. Mercer Brugler at the City University of New York (CUNY) will process the black coral samples for taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses. David Hicks at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) will process the octocoral samples for genetic analyses.