Predictive performance data of species distribution models for tropical reef-associated fishes

We obtained a comprehensive list of tropical reef fishes from Parravicini et al. (2013, 2014). We initially considered 6,316 tropical reef fish species distributed across the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Tropical Eastern Pacific. We verified scientific names by cross-referencing the World Register of Marine Species (marinespecies.org), which provides authoritative taxonomic information for marine organisms.We developed SDMs for tropical reef fish species using opportunistic occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF.org 2025, retrieved 12 October 2025, available at doi.org/10.15468/dl.w7zpa6).