Habitat suitability of eight threatened gobies inhabiting tidal flats in temperate estuaries: model developments in the estuary of the Kuma River in Kyushu Island, Japan

We developed habitat suitability models for eight threatened goby species inhabiting tidal flats in the estuary of Kuma River in Kyushu Island, Japan. The best models selected several environmental factors, which were supported by area under the curve (AUC) values ranging from 0.793 to 0.976. The habitat suitability curves for each variable demonstrated various slopes, suggesting interspecific differences in habitat suitability for each environmental factor. The results suggested that the range of environmental gradients in tidal flats influences the richness of the threatened goby species.