Aim Understanding how body size and geographic range size influence species abundance is central to macroecology. Here, we characterized these relationships for reef fishes, the world's most diverse vertebrate group, across global and regional scales. Location Global tropical and subtropical reefs. Time Period Current. Major Taxa Studied Reef‐associated fishes. Methods We compiled a comprehensive dataset on abundance, body siz...

Aim Functional diversity encapsulates whole‐community responses to environmental gradients mediated by species traits. Under trait convergence, similar responses may cause distantly related taxa to exhibit spatially correlated functional diversity. We investigated whether similar responses of reef fish, coral and algal functional richness and disparity to the environment produce spatially correlated functional diversity patter...

The South Mid Atlantic Ridge comprises three main oceanic islands in the equatorial and tropical portions of the Atlantic Ocean. These islands are isolated from each other and equidistant from both the continental margins of South America and Africa, sharing common patterns but with different types of human use and pressures. Moreover, the areas beyond national jurisdiction between those islands are visited and exploited by di...

Aim The Island Biogeography Theory (IBT) and its multiple extensions explain species diversity patterns in insular systems. However, how these theories can predict the functional diversity patterns in island systems remains challenging. Here, we evaluated the predictions of the IBT, the General Dynamic Theory of Oceanic Island Biogeography (GDM) and the Glacial‐sensitive model of Island Biogeography (GSM) considering the funct...

The TimeFISH database provides the first public time‐series dataset on reef fish assemblages in the southwestern Atlantic (SWA), comprising 15 years of data (2007–2022) based on standardized Underwater Visual Censuses (UVCs). The rocky reefs covered by our dataset are influenced by pronounced seasonal cycles of ocean temperatures with warm tropical waters from the Brazil Current in the summer (~27°C) and colder waters from the...

Aim The Amazon‐Orinoco plume is the major biogeographical barrier between the Great Caribbean and the Brazilian Province. No study has so far addressed the influence of this barrier in a broad chrono‐phylogenetic context. Here, we evaluate the effects of the Amazon‐Orinoco plume barrier on the patterns of diversification of Western Atlantic reef fishes through time. Location Tropical Western Atlantic. Taxon Reef Fishes (Percom...

Aim Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances (i.e., β‐diversity) is at the heart of community ecology. A common approach to examine β‐diversity is to evaluate directional variation in community composition by measuring the decay in the similarity among pairs of communities along spatial or environmental distance. We provide the first global synthesis of taxonomic and functional distance decay...

Brazilian endemic batoid elasmobranch populations have declined dramatically in the past 40 years due to anthropic activities ( e.g ., overfishing). The Brazilian guitarfish, Pseudobatos horkelii , included in the IUCN red list of endangered species [Critically Endangered (CR)], has been captured as by‐catch by trawling fishing boats to the edge of extinction. Despite governmental conservation initiatives, the species is still...

Aim To investigate biotic and abiotic correlates of reef‐fish species richness across multiple spatial scales. Location Tropical reefs around the globe, including 485 sites in 109 sub‐provinces spread across 14 biogeographic provinces. Time period Present. Major taxa studied 2,523 species of reef fish. Methods We compiled a database encompassing 13,050 visual transects. We used hierarchical linear Bayesian models to investigat...

Marine communities vary across spatial scales due to changes in habitat structure, wave exposure, depth and anthropogenic activities. Here, we quantitatively characterized, for the first time, the reef fish assemblages and benthic communities in six sites around São Tomé Island, in the Tropical Eastern Atlantic region. We performed 139 underwater visual census and 112 photo‐quadrats across six sites around the island to explor...

Aim We studied the underlying biotic and abiotic drivers of network patterns in marine cleaning mutualisms (species feeding upon ectoparasites and injured tissues of others) at large spatial scales. Location Eleven marine biogeographical provinces. Time period 1971–2018. Major taxa studied Reef fish and shrimps. Methods We combined field and literature data to test whether recurrent patterns in mutualistic networks (nestedness...

An updated molecular phylogeny of the blenny genus Ophioblennius , with a focus on two geographically disjunct morphotypes observed in Brazil, is presented. The analyses showed that specimens from the north‐eastern Brazilian coast are the endemic redlip blenny Ophioblennius trinitatis , but specimens from the southern Brazilian coast are conspecific to an undescribed east Atlantic Ocean (Gulf of Guinea) species, previously unk...

A large fish‐count dataset from the Brazilian province was used to describe spatial patterns in standing biomass and test if total biomass, taxonomic and functional trophic structure vary across nested spatial scales. Taxonomic and functional structure varied more among localities and sites than among regions. Total biomass was generally higher at oceanic islands and remote or protected localities along the coast. Lower level...

The damselfish Chromis limbata is native to the Macaronesian Archipelagos (Azores, Madeira and Canaries) and the western coast of Africa between Senegal and Angola. During the austral summers of 2008 and 2009 the species was recorded for the first time in the south‐western Atlantic Ocean around Campeche and Xavier Islands, in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. Here, the progression of C. limbata in southern Brazilian...

Aim Rafting with natural flotsam is an important mechanism of long‐distance oceanic dispersal for many near‐shore marine organisms. Identifying the species‐level traits associated with this behaviour would aid in understanding and predicting a species' capacity for dispersal between isolated areas of benthic habitat. Location The tropical and subtropical Atlantic. Methods We assessed the relationships between species‐level tra...

Fishes contribute substantially to energy and nutrient fluxes in reef ecosystems, but quantifying these roles is challenging. Here, we do so by synthesising a large compilation of fish metabolic‐rate data with a comprehensive database on reef‐fish community abundance and biomass. Individual‐level analyses support predictions of Metabolic Theory after accounting for significant family‐level variation, and indicate that some tro...

Local fisher knowledge is an important source of information for the adjustment of environmental baselines relative to anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems. This knowledge is also susceptible to the shifting baseline syndrome. Four generations of fishers neighbouring a marine park in Eastern Brazil, were surveyed regarding the conservation status of nine reef fish species. Shifts in environmental baselines were detected...