Life-history traits, geographical range and conservation aspects of reef fishes from the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Short title: Atlantic and Eastern Pacific reef fishes Juan Pablo Quimbayo1*, Fernanda Carolina da Silva2, Thiago Costa Mendes3, Débora Silva Ferrari2, Samara Leopoldino Danielski2, Mariana Gomes Bender4 Valeriano Parravicini5, Michel Kulbicki6, Sergio Ricardo Floeter2 Affiliations: 1 Center for Marine Biology, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil 2 Marine Macroecology and Biogeography Lab, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil 3 Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil 4 Marine Macroecology and Conservation Lab, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil 5 École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université de Perpignan, France 6 Institut de Recherche pour le Développement IRD, UMR Entropie, Université de Perpignan, France *Corresponding author: Juan Pablo Quimbayo, email: [email protected] 1 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 2 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. Keywords: Taxonomic richness, behavioral traits, morphological traits, ecological traits, biogeographical information, threatened species, fish price, species distribution, checklist, Atlantic, Eastern Pacific. METADATA CLASS I. DATA SET DESCRIPTORS A. Data set identity: Life-history traits, geographical range and conservation aspects of reef fishes from the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific B. Data set identification code: • Fish_aspects_EasternPacific_Atlantic_Realms.csv; • Fish_aspects_EasternPacific_Atlantic_Realms.txt C. Data set description 1. Originators: Juan Pablo Quimbayo1*, Fernanda Carolina da Silva2, Thiago Costa Mendes3, Débora Silva Ferrari2, Samara Leopoldino Danielski2, Mariana Gomes Bender4 Valeriano Parravicini5, Michel Kulbicki6, Sergio Ricardo Floeter2 1 Center for Marine Biology, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil 3 2 Marine Macroecology and Biogeography Lab, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil 3 Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil 4 Marine Macroecology and Conservation Lab, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil 5 École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université de Perpignan, France 6 Institut de Recherche pour le Développment IRD, UMR Entropie, Université de Perpignan, France 2. 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 isolated 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). 4 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 offers the opportunity to explore novel ecological and evolutionary questions at different scales and provides tools for species conservation based on these traits. 3. Keywords: Taxonomic richness, behavioral traits, morphological traits, ecological traits, biogeographical information, threatened species, fish price, species distribution, checklist, Atlantic, Eastern Pacific. CLASS II. RESEARCH ORIGIN DESCRIPTORS A. Overall project description 1. Identity: Life-history traits, geographical range and conservation aspects of reef fishes from the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific 2. Originators: Juan Pablo Quimbayo1*, Thiago Costa Mendes2, Mariana Gomes Bender3 Valeriano Parravicini4, Michel Kulbicki5, Sergio Ricardo Floeter6 1 Center for Marine Biology, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil 2 Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil 3 Marine Macroecology and Conservation Lab, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil 5 4 École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université de Perpignan, France 5 Institut de Recherche pour le Développment IRD, UMR Entropie, Université de Perpignan, France 6 Marine Macroecology and Biogeography Lab, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil 3. Period of study: Data of source publications range from 1982 to 2020. 4. Objectives: (1) Compile the occurrences of all extant reef fish species in the tropical and subtropical reefs of the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific realms (b) identify behavioral, morphological and ecological traits, as well as biogeographical and conservation aspects of reef fish from the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. 5. Abstract: Same as above 6. Source: Foundation for Research on Biodiversity – France | São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP 2018/21380-0) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq 563276/2010-0) B. Specific subproject description 1. Sites description Our research comprises 104 localities from the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific marine realms (Kulbicki et al. 2013) located between latitudes 51ºN and 45ºS (Table 1; Figure 1a). Both realms are characterized by have a high level of isolation from the past and current biodiversity center, with low similarity and high endesmim (Kulbicki et al. 2013, Pellissier et al. 2014). The Atlantic is considered the second most isolated marine realm due to three main biogeographic barriers: 6 the emerged Rea Sea land bridge c. 12-18 Myr which separated its fish fauna from the Indian realm (Floeter et al. 2008, Belmaker et al. 2013); the closure of the Isthmus of Panama c. 3Myr which disconnected the Atlantic from the Eastern Pacific; and the cold Benguela Current which has largely constrain the colonization of Atlantic reefs by species arriving from the Indian realm for at least 2 Myr (Floeter et al. 2008). The Eastern Pacific (EP) is recognized as the most isolated marine realm due to an approximately 5000-km-wide