Life-history traits, geographical range and conservation aspects of reef fishes from the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific

Abstract

Reef fish represent one of the most diverse vertebrate groups on Earth, with over 7000 species distributed around the globe. This richness is not evenly distributed geographically. The Atlantic (AT) and the Eastern Pacific (EP) encompass 30% of the global fish fauna. These areas have been considered the most isolated from the marine biodiversity hotspot in the Indo-Pacific due to distinct physical barriers, such as the Tethyan closure and the distance between the EP and the western Pacific. Despite their comparatively lower species richness, these realms host unique fish assemblages characterized by a remarkable proportion of regional endemics and species with large body size. Here, we present the largest database of life-history traits, biogeographical and conservation aspects presently available for the reef fish fauna of the AT and the EP realms. The database includes 21 traits distributed into behavioral (home range, diel activity, group size, level in the water column, three measures of preferred temperature), morphological (maximum body size, size class, body shape, aspect ratio, caudal fin, mouth position) and ecological (trophic level, diet, spawning strategy, depth of occurrence, two allometric constants, pelagic larval duration and life span), as well as biogeographical (geographic range index, range extension, species distribution in 20 marine provinces, Latitude North and South of occurrence, Total number of provinces where species occur, occurrence in the AT and EP), and conservation aspects (IUCN status, vulnerability and global market price). We compiled these data through a careful review of 104 local checklists published between 1982 and 2020, online repositories, local reports, books, and monographs on specific families or genera. We limited our database to localities situated between latitudes 51ºN and 45ºS that including shallow and upper mesophotic biogenic and/or rocky reefs habitats. Our database covers 2,198 species belonging to 146 families and 655 reef fish genera distributed in two marine realms (1,458 in the AT, 829 in the EP, and 89 in both realms) and 20 marine provinces. This database of reef fish offers the opportunity to explore novel ecological and evolutionary questions at different scales and provides tools for species conservation based on these traits.