Flyingfishes are large enough to eat zooplankton, small enough to be consumed by top predators, and therefore form a central mid-trophic component of tropical epipelagic marine food webs. Characterizing patterns of flyingfish abundance, distribution, and habitat preference has important implications for understanding both localized and generalized functions of marine ecosystems. The eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) supports many flyingfish species and their predators, yet no studies to date have identified oceanographic factors that define flyingfish habitats or estimate species richness and diversity at broad taxonomic and geographic scales. In this study, we analyzed 11,125 flyingfish representing 25 species and all seven named genera, collected from the ETP over a 21-year period. We applied spatially explicit analysis methods (ARCGIS, DIVA-GIS, MAXENT) and compared specimen locality data to remotely sensed oceanographic data and previously described oceanographic partitions. Our results show that Exocoetus is the most abundant genus (49%) and E. monocirrhus the most abundant species (32%) of flyingfishes in the ETP. Mean sea surface temperature was most important for defining flyingfish habitats (19.2–41.7%) and species richness (highest in the North Equatorial Current). Additionally, flyingfish species diversity was found to be highest in coastal regions of the study area (Shannon indices > 1.5). Together, these results provide unprecedented characterizations of a mid-trophic epipelagic community in an economically valuable region during a time when sea surface temperatures are predicted to increase as a result of global climate change.

中文翻译：

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fish鱼（Exocoetidae）在热带东部太平洋中的物种多样性和栖息地。

飞鱼大到足以吃到浮游动物，小到足以被顶级掠食者吃掉，因此成为热带上层海洋食物网的中营养中心部分。表征飞鱼的丰度，分布和栖息地偏好的模式对于理解海洋生态系统的局部和广义功能都具有重要意义。东部热带太平洋（ETP）支持许多飞鱼物种及其捕食者，但迄今为止，尚无研究能确定定义飞鱼栖息地或在广泛的分类和地理范围内估计物种丰富度和多样性的海洋学因素。在这项研究中，我们分析了21年内从ETP收集的11125条代表25个物种的飞鱼和所有7个命名属。我们应用了空间显式分析方法（ARCGIS，DIVA-GIS，MAXENT），并将标本位置数据与遥感海洋数据和先前描述的海洋分区进行了比较。我们的结果表明Exocoetus是ETP中最丰富的飞鱼属（49％），而E. monocirrhus是最丰富的飞鱼种类（32％）。平均海面温度对于确定飞鱼的生境（19.2–41.7％）和物种丰富度（北赤道洋流最高）最重要。此外，在研究区域的沿海地区发现飞鱼物种多样性最高（香农指数> 1.5）。在一起，这些结果提供了一个空前的特征，即在全球气候变化导致海面温度预计升高的时期，一个经济上有价值的地区的中营养上层生物群落。