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Based on data from 151 underwater surveys (scuba) between 2002 and 2007, the present study assessed the reef fish fauna from a scarcely known region on the north-eastern Brazilian coast (Ceará State). A checklist of 179 taxa is provided and the zoogeographic patterns are analysed and discussed, including six other localities. Based only on assemblage composition, the reef fish fauna from Ceará showed a strong resemblance (73%) with the reefs of Risca do Zumbi (RN) and Paraiba (PB). The data from the visual censuses including abundance values corroborate the evaluation based only on composition and suggest ecological factors as the main drivers of the fish assemblages in the region.

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Large gaps in reef distribution may hinder the dispersal of marine organisms, interrupting processes vital to the maintenance of biodiversity. Here we show the presence and location of extensive reef habitats on the continental shelf between the Amazon Reef System (ARS) and the Eastern Brazilian Reef System (ERS), two reef complexes off eastern South America. Formations located 20–50 m deep include both biogenic and geogenic structures. The presence of diverse reef assemblages suggests the widespread occurrence of rocky substrates below 50 m. These habitats represent an expansion of both the ARS and ERS and the closure of the only remaining large-scale gap (~ 1000 km) among West Atlantic reef environments. This indicates that the SW Atlantic harbors a single, yet heterogeneous, reef system that stretches for about 4000 km, and thus, represents one of the largest semi-continuous tropical marine ecosystems in the world.