New Zealand tropical, subtropical and rare marine fish records

<br> Climate change is driving biogeographic change globally, including poleward range shifts of species and the increasing local abundance of rare species. In order to detect climate-driven biodiversity change, it is essential to establish a baseline to inform monitoring. We consolidated over 100 years of published records, unpublished occurrences and citizen scientist sightings of tropical, subtropical, and rare fishes found in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) to develop an occurrence database for NZ. This database is the basis of several peer-reviewed publications (Middleton et al., 2021, I. Introduced alien, range extension or just visiting? Combining citizen science observations and expert knowledge to classify range dynamics of marine fishes. Diversity and Distributions; Middleton et al., in review; Middleton et al., in prep; and Littlewood et al., in prep.), on-going research by Irene Middleton and Libby Liggins, and will be updated in a version-controlled manner with contributions of others through the citizen science initiative “What's That Fish NZ?” (WTFNZ, https://www.facebook.com/WhatsThatFishNZ/). <br> Currently, the database presents 1625 occurrence records of marine ray-finned fishes (Class Actinopterygii) in NZ waters, excluding the sub-Antarctic islands and the Rangitāhua-Kermadec Islands groups (hereafter “mainland NZ”). The included species (“focal species” as described in Middleton et al., in review) are native and non-native species that are thought to have an affinity with warmer-waters and/or are rare. These are species we anticipate being early responders to ocean climate change in coastal mainland NZ, that are detectable by citizen scientists (see Middleton et al., in review for further explanation). The list of “focal species” may be extended in future versions of the database. <br> Occurrence records were sourced from both “experts” (marine scientists, taxonomists and science practitioners with a track record of peer-reviewed publications relating to NZ marine fishes) and “citizen scientists” (non-expert observers). Occurrence data sources varied in type, content, and completeness; hence, we used a two-tier validation to ensure consistency and reliability of the data accompanying occurrences to be included in our database (see Middleton et al., 2021 for more explanation). Over 90% of the sightings are from previously unpublished expert and citizen scientist observations and 10% have been previously published in peer-reviewed literature. The proportion of records sourced from experts and citizen scientists varies over time due to significant contributions from expert dive logbooks and image collections early on, however 70% of the records originate from citizen science sources. For all data sources, we required that each occurrence was accompanied by some minimum metadata (including location with at least 10 km precision, year and season, along with the number of individuals sighted). For citizen scientists, we additionally required a photographic image, video, or specimen so that expert scientists or taxonomists could verify the identity of the focal species. However, if the occurrence data were sourced from an expert marine scientist or taxonomist directly, we did not require an image. All metadata including the basis of each occurrence record (e.g., if the record was accompanied by an image, video, or specimen; if the observer was an expert or citizen scientist; and the expert that identified or verified the observation) are provided as metadata in database to provide transparency regarding the data source and quality. <br> The database has three tabs: “Fish_Records” are the marine fish records including relevant metadata; “Fields_Info” provides a description of the information held in the metadata fields of Fish_Records, including the vocabulary used (if relevant) or providing example entries; and “References” includes any literature or resources referred to by number in the Fish_Records tab. <br> If you use the database, please cite the Figshare DOI and please also cite: Middleton, I., Aguirre, J. D., Trnski, T., Francis, M., Duffy, C., &amp; Liggins, L. (2021). Introduced alien, range extension or just visiting? Combining citizen science observations and expert knowledge to classify range dynamics of marine fishes. Diversity and Distributions, 27(2), doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13273. If you have any further questions or suggestions for the database please contact: Irene Middleton, [e-mail] or Libby Liggins, [e-mail].