Tropical Diversity (2025) 5 (1/2): 1-5.

ISSN: 2596-2388

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17195488

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Brazilian Reef Fish Database

Mauro J. Cavalcanti1* https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2389-1902, Paulo Roberto Duarte Lopes2

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5781-5284

1*Ecoinformatics Studio, Caixa Postal 18123, CEP 20720-970 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, E-mail: maurobio@gmail.com

2Departamento de Ciências Biológicas (Museu de Zoologia – Divisão de Peixes), Universidade Estadual de Avenida

Transnordestina, s/no (km 03 – BR-116), CEP 44036-900, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil.

*E-mail: maurobio@gmail.com

Received: May 30, 2025 / Accepted: September 24, 2025/ Published: September 26, 2025

Resumo O objetivo deste trabalho é catalogar e

documentar a diversidade biológica das espécies de

peixes recifais do litoral e das ilhas oceânicas e

costeiras do Brasil, mediante a construção de um

banco de dados integrado com informações sobre

taxonomia, distribuição geográfica, hábitats,

situação de conservação, sequências genômicas e

bibliografia relevante para cada espécie. Os dados

foram obtidos de várias fontes disponíveis na

Internet: Catalogue of Life, Genbank/NCBI,

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF),

IUCN Red List e Wikipedia. Foram catalogadas

308 espécies válidas de peixes recifais, incluídas

em 12 ordens, 56 famílias e 165 gêneros. O banco

de dados completo está disponível em:

http://coralfish.scienceontheweb.net.

Palavras-Chave: peixes recifais, bancos de dados de

biodiversidade, biogeografia marinha, Oceano Atlântico

Ocidental.

Abstract The objective of this work is to catalog

and document the biological diversity of reef fish

species from the Brazilian coastline and associated

oceanic and coastal islands. This was achieved

through the development of an integrated database

with information on taxonomy, geographic

distribution, habitats, conservation status, genome

sequences and relevant bibliography for each

species. Data were compiled from various online

sources, including the Catalogue of Life,

Genbank/NCBI, Global Biodiversity Information

Facility (GBIF), IUCN Red List and Wikipedia.

The final dataset comprises 308 valid reef fish

species, included in 12 orders, 56 families and 165

genera. The complete database is publicly available

at http://coralfish.scienceontheweb.net.

Keywords: coral reef fishes, biodiversity databases,

marine biogeography, Western Atlantic Ocean.

Tropical Diversity (2025) 5 (1/2): 1-5.

ISSN: 2596-2388

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17195488

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Introduction

In contrast to the better-documented

ichthyofaunas of the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific,

relatively little is known about the taxonomy,

ecology and geographic distribution of fishes

associated with reef formations in the western

South Atlantic. The Brazilian marine ichthyofauna

isolated from the Caribbean Sea by the freshwater

and sediment outflows of the Amazon and Orinoco

rivers – which reduce salinity and increase

turbidity of the water, (Ekman, 1953; Briggs, 1974;

Palacio, 1982; Rocha, 2003) displays a relatively

high degree of species-level endemism (Gilbert,

1973; Moura et al., 1999; Floeter & Gasparini,

2000; Joyeux et al., 2001; Floeter et al., 2008).

Properly integrated and analyzed using

data mining techniques and statistical methods that

make it possible to detect patterns and identify

factors and trends, the large volume of information

currently available in large biodiversity databases

on the Internet (Bisby, 2000) can provide valuable

support for the conservation and sustainable use of

biological resources represented by this

ichthyofauna.

The objective of this project is to catalog

and document the biological diversity of reef fish

species from the coast and oceanic and coastal

islands of Brazil, through the construction of an

integrated database with information on taxonomy,

geographic distribution, habitats, conservation

status, genome sequences and relevant

bibliography for each species.

Materials and Methods

The list of reef fish species compiled by

Floeter et al. (2003) was used to construct the

database. These species occur along the coasts of

Northeast and Southeast Brazil (Paraíba,

Pernambuco, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro

and São Paulo) and oceanic islands (Rocas Atoll,

Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Penedos de

São Pedro and São Paulo, and Trindade Island).

This list was previously checked against the

Catalogue of Life database

(www.catalogueoflife.org) to identify and correct

any synonyms and other nomenclatural problems.

The database was implemented using the

MySQL database management system

(www.mysql.com), based on the generic schema

for biodiversity databases ACACIA (Cavalcanti,

2023). A tool developed in the Python language

(www.python.org) was used to populate the

database tables from several sources available on

the Internet that offer interfaces for application

programs: FishBase (via Catalogue of Life,

www.catalogueoflife.org): nomenclature and

literature data, Genbank/NCBI

(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank): genome

sequence data, Global Biodiversity Information

Facility (www.gbif.org): geographic distribution

data, IUCN Red List (www.iucnredlist.org):

conservation status and habitat data, and Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org): textual notes. Subsequent data

entry, editing and analysis were performed using a

web interface written in PHP (www.php.net), with

Cavalcanti & Lopes (2025)

Brazilian reef fish database

routines developed for generating statistical reports

(Fig. 1). Distribution maps were automatically

generated by the integrated tool OpenLayers

(www.openlayers.org), based on georeferenced

occurrence records available in the database (Fig.

2). Results of all database queries can be exported

to files in Excel, CSV or KML standard formats for

use with other software as GIS and statistical

packages, for more elaborate display and further

analysis. The complete database of Brazilian reef

fishes is available for consultation at

http://coralfish.scienceontheweb.net.

Figure 1 – Database browser, displaying the results of a simple query.

Figure 2 – Distribution map for a selected species.

Results and Discussion

Data were obtained for 308 valid reef fish

species, included in 12 orders, 56 families and 165

genera. These species have 1,271 synonyms and

1,111 common names in Brazilian Portuguese.

Perciformes (72.7%), Tetraodontiformes (6.82%)

and Anguilliformes (5.84%) are the orders with the

Cavalcanti & Lopes (2025)

Brazilian reef fish database

highest frequency of species, while Serranidae

(10%), Carangidae (8%) and Gobiidae (5%) are the

most frequent families.

Regarding their ecological distribution, the

species occur in 29 habitats, with 124 species

(40.3%) associated with rocky bottoms and 53

(17.2%) with sandy bottoms, with only 14 (4.5%)

restricted to coral formations themselves; however,

even these species are not exclusive to reef

environments, also occurring in other habitats.

Regarding the geographic distribution on

the Brazilian coast (including continental and

oceanic islands), there are 2,981 records of

occurrence in 700 locations, with Trachurus

lathami (83), Diplectrum radiale (73) and

Ogcocephalus vespertilio (69) being the species

with the highest number of records.

There are 3,134 nucleotide sequences and

2,748 protein sequences in the database for 211

species (60.5% of the total), of which 89 have more

than 40 sequences and the others between 2 and 39

sequences.

Regarding the conservation status, 1

species (Epinephelus itajara) is in the Critically

Endangered (CR) category, 2 species (Epinephelus

marginatus and Scarus trispinosus) are in the

Endangered (EN) category, 8 species

(Hippocampus erectus, Hyporthodus niveatus,

Mycteroperca interstitialis, Lutjanus analis, L.

cyanopterus, Enneanectes smithi, Coryphopterus

thrix and Balistes capriscus) are in the Vulnerable

(VU) category, with 243 species in the Least

Concern (LC) category, 9 in the Data Deficient

(DD) category, and 39 in the Not Evaluated (NE)

category, according to the IUCN criteria. No

species was listed as Near Threatened (NT),

Extinct in the Wild (EW) or Extinct (EX)

categories.

Conclusions

The main result of the project was the

development and publication of a database on the

biodiversity of ichthyofauna associated with reef

formations along the Brazilian coast. To our

knowledge, this database is, to date, the only

initiative of its kind implemented in the world,

aiming to consolidate in an integrated database the

information available on this ichthyofauna in

Brazil. In addition, the modular and open

framework used for the implementation of the

database can be used in the development of

biodiversity databases for other taxonomic groups

and geographic regions.

Acknowledgements

We thank Luís Geraldes Primeiro and

Valéria Gallo for their review of the manuscript.

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