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Climate change impacts physical and chemical properties of the oceans, and these changes affect the ecology of marine organisms. One important ecological consequence of climate change is the distribution shift of marine species toward higher latitudes. Here, the prevalence of nearly 150 species of fish and invertebrates were investigated to find changes in their distributions over 35 years along a subtropical coast within the Gulf of Mexico. Our results show that 90 species increased their occupancy probability, while 33 decreased (remaining species neither increase or decrease), and the ranges of many species expanded. Using rarefaction analysis, which allows for the estimation of species diversity, we show that species diversity has increased across the coast of Texas. Climate-mediated environmental variables are related to the changes in the occupancy probability, suggesting the expansion of tropical species into the region is increasing diversity.

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A recent increase in the abundance of snook species (Centropomus spp.) in Texas has been generally associated with a broad‐scale warming trend of Texas’ inshore waters, closure of the commercial fishery in 1987, and fairly conservative restrictions on recreational catch implemented at the same time. Despite this observed increase in abundance, little is known about the snook species complex in Texas, including uncertainty about recent changes in distribution and abundance, taxonomy, and population structure. Here, abundance and distribution data from a long‐running fishery‐independent (FIN) data set were analyzed in synergy with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite genotypes to answer basic questions about the snook species complex in Texas. The main findings from this work are as follows: (1) based on trends observed in FIN data, snook are increasing in abundance and expanding their range northward in Texas; (2) based on mtDNA sequencing, the two most common species of snook in Texas are the Common Snook C. undecimalis and Largescale Fat Snook C. mexicanus; (3) a third species, the Mexican Snook C. poeyi, occurs but only rarely; and (4) patterns from microsatellite genotypes suggest that the two predominant species, Common Snook and Largescale Fat Snook, probably constitute single genetic stocks in Texas, although evidence of chaotic genetic patchiness was also observed. This latter finding might be a general expectation for populations that are on the leading edge of an expanding species range and implies that management measures in Texas should be directed toward conservation of suitable habitat corridors offering environmental and habitat refugia as well as measures (e.g., stock enhancement) that increase the probability of survival of small, localized populations.