Atlantic reef fishes: distributions and life-history traits

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Atlantic reef fishes: distributions and life-history traits 

Upload date: September 3rd, 2024            DOI for all versions: 10.5281/zenodo.13655553

Isadora Cord¹*, Sergio R. Floeter¹*,**, Gabriel S. Araujo², Juan P. Quimbayo³, D. Ross Robertson⁴, Benjamin C. Victor⁵, Peter Wirtz⁶, Hudson T. Pinheiro², Rui Freitas⁷, Luiz A. Rocha⁸ 

* joint first authors; ** corresponding author <sergiofloeter@gmail.com>

¹Marine Macroecology and Biogeography Lab, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil

²Center for Marine Biology, University of São Paulo, São Sebastião, SP, Brazil

³University of Florida, USA

⁴Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama

⁵Ocean Science Foundation, USA

⁶Centro de Ciências do Mar, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal

⁷Universidade Técnica do Atlântico, Cabo Verde

⁸California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA

Introduction to the First Edition

This database includes information on the distribution and life-history traits for 1,628 reef fish species, distributed across 26 sub-provinces of the tropical, sub-tropical, and warm temperate Atlantic Ocean. We followed the definition provided by Floeter et al. (2008) for “reef fish,” including any shallow (<100 m) tropical/subtropical benthic or benthopelagic fishes that consistently associate with hard substrates of coral, algal, or rocky reefs, or occupy adjacent sand substrate. All distributions were verified by the authors, double-checked with online databases, and available literature (peer-reviewed regional checklists and scientific papers; see main refs). Life-history traits were compiled for most species by using a combination of personal data, online databases (e.g. Froese & Pauly, 2023; Robertson & Van Tassell, 2023), and published sources (e.g. Luiz et al. 2015; Pinheiro et al. 2018; Quimbayo et al. 2021).

This database is associated with the manuscript Cord et al. (in prep.) “Biogeography and evolution of reef fishes on tropical Mid-Atlantic Ridge islands,” and represents an update that has been in development for 16 years, based on Floeter et al. (2008) “Atlantic reef fish biogeography and evolution”.

Data Description:

The .xlsx database contains two pages, “traits&distributions” and “acronyms”. The “acronyms” page contains the same table that is available below, as well as a map illustrating the studied areas. The “traits&distributions” page is divided into the following columns:

   "A" through "D": Species’ identification

species = the complete species names, in the following pattern: “Genus_specific epithet”, e.g. “Acanthurus_bahianus”

family, genus = self explanatory

spp = specific epithet

   "E" through "AD": Distributions

   "AE" through "AK": Life-history traits

“depth_max” = Maximum recorded depth, in meters.

“bodysize_max” = Maximum recorded adult body size, in centimeters.

“rafter” = Presence (1) or absence (0) of rafting behavior (mostly for the entire genus).

“multihabitat” = Usage of other habitats in addition to structural reefs (soft bottoms, seagrass/macroalgae beds, mangroves, and estuaries).

“diet” = Diet habits (gc: generalised carnivores; hd: herbivores/detritivores; is: sessile invertivores; mi: mobile invertivores; om: omnivores; pk: planktivores).

“groupsize” = Sociability (sol: solitary; pair: pairs of two individuals; smallg: groups of 3 to 10 individuals; medg: groups of 10 to 20 individuals; largeg: groups of over 20 individuals).

“spawning” = Spawning modes (att: attached; dem: demersal; live: livebearers; oral: oral; pel: pelagic).

Data Sources and Verification:

We gathered presence or absence data for 73 families of reef-associated fishes, encompassing 1,637 species in 26 distinct biogeographical units within the Atlantic Basin (see table above). All distributions were strictly verified by the authors, double-checked with online databases and available literature (e.g. Brown et al. 2019; Freitas et al. 2019; Floeter et al. 2023; Pinheiro et al. 2020; Robertson & Van Tassell, 2023; Wirtz et al. 2017). Life-history traits were compiled using personal data, online databases (e.g. Froese & Pauly, 2023; Robertson & Van Tassell, 2023), and published sources (e.g. Luiz et al. 2015; Pinheiro et al. 2018; Quimbayo et al. 2021). All species’ nomenclature was based on Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes (Fricke et al. 2024). 

Main References:

Brown, J., Beard, A., Clingham, E., Fricke, R., Henry, L., & Wirtz, P. (2019). The fishes of St Helena Island, central Atlantic Ocean—new records and an annotated checklist. Zootaxa, 4543(2), 151-194.

Freitas, R., Romeiras, M., Silva, L., Cordeiro, R., Madeira, P., González, J.A., Wirtz, P., Falcón, J.M., Brito, A., Floeter, S.R., Afonso, P., Porteiro, F., Viera-Rodríguez, M.A., Neto, A.I., Haroun, R., Farminhão, J.N.M., Rebelo, A.C., Baptista, L., Melo, C.S., Martínez, A., Núñez, J., Berning, B., Johnson, M.E. & Ávila, S.P. (2019). Restructuring of the 'Macaronesia' biogeographic unit: A marine multi-taxon biogeographical approach. Scientific Reports, 9: 15792.

Fricke, R., Eschmeyer, W. N. & Fong, J. D. (2024 ). ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: GENERA/SPECIES BY FAMILY/SUBFAMILY.(http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/ SpeciesByFamily.asp). Electronic version accessed 03 September 2024.

Floeter, S.R., Krajewski, J.P., Fiuza, T.M.J., Rocha, L.A. & Carvalho-Filho, A. (2023). Brazilian Reef Fishes. Editora CRV, Curitiba, pp. 320.ISBN 978-65-251-4245-6. DOI: 10.24824/978652514245.6

Floeter, S. R., Rocha, L. A., Robertson, D. R., Joyeux, J. C., Smith-Vaniz, W. F., Wirtz, P., Edwards, A. J., Barreiros, J. P., Ferreira, C. E. L., Gasparini, J. L., Brito, A., Falcón, J. M., Bowen, B. W. & Bernardi, G. (2008). Atlantic reef fish biogeography and evolution. Journal of Biogeography, 35: 22-47.

Froese R, Pauly D (Eds) (2023) FishBase. [Version 06/2023] http://www.fishbase.org 

Luiz, O. J., Madin, J. S., Robertson, D. R., Rocha, L. A., Wirtz, P., & Floeter, S. R. (2012). Ecological traits influencing range expansion across large oceanic dispersal barriers: insights from tropical Atlantic reef fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1730), 1033-1040.

Munroe, T. A. (1990). Eastern Atlantic tonguefishes (Symphurus: Cynoglossidae, Pleuronectiformes), with descriptions of two new species. Bulletin of Marine Science, 47(2), 464-515.

Munroe, T. A. (1991). Western Atlantic Tonguefishes of the Symphurus-Plagusia Complex (Cynoglossidae, Pleuronectiformes), with Descriptions of 2 New Species. Fishery Bulletin.

Pinheiro, H. T., Rocha, L. A., Macieira, R. M., Carvalho‐Filho, A., Anderson, A. B., Bender, M. G., ... & Floeter, S. R. (2018). South‐western Atlantic reef fishes: Zoogeographical patterns and ecological drivers reveal a secondary biodiversity centre in the Atlantic Ocean. Diversity and Distributions, 24(7), 951-965.

Pinheiro, H. T., Macena, B. C., Francini‐Filho, R. B., Ferreira, C. E., Albuquerque, F. V., Bezerra, N. P., ... & Rocha, L. A. (2020). Fish biodiversity of Saint Peter and Saint Paulʼs Archipelago, Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, Brazil: new records and a species database. Journal of Fish Biology, 97(4), 1143-1153.

Quimbayo, J.P., Silva, F.C., Mendes, T.C., Ferrari, D.S., Danielski, S.L., Bender, M.G., Parravicini, V., Kulbicki, M. & Floeter, S.R. (2021). Life-history traits, geographical range and conservation aspects of reef fishes from the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. Ecology (Data Papers), https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3298.

Robertson, D. R., & Tornabene, L. (2023). Reef-associated Bony Fishes of the Greater Caribbean: A Checklist (VERSION 5). https://zenodo.org/records/10225031

Robertson, D. R., & Van Tassell, J. (2023). Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean: online information system. Version 3.0 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panamá.

Wirtz, P., Bingeman, J., Bingeman, J., Fricke, R., Hook, T. J., & Young, J. (2017). The fishes of Ascension Island, central Atlantic Ocean–new records and an annotated checklist. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 97(4), 783-798.

Additional details:

Related works Cord et al. (in prep.) and Floeter et al. (2008)

 Cord, I., Araujo, G. S., Silva, F. C., Kurtz, Y. R., Rocha, C. R., Pinheiro, H. T., Rocha, L. A. & Floeter, S. R. (in prep.). Biogeography and evolution of reef fishes on tropical Mid-Atlantic Ridge islands.

Floeter, S. R., Rocha, L. A., Robertson, D. R., Joyeux, J. C., Smith-Vaniz, W. F., Wirtz, P., Edwards, A. J., Barreiros, J. P., Ferreira, C. E. L., Gasparini, J. L., Brito, A., Falcón, J. M., Bowen, B. W. & Bernardi, G. (2008). Atlantic reef fish biogeography and evolution. Journal of Biogeography, 35: 22–47.