This dataset contains all data and R codes (R Development Core Team, https://www.R-project.org) used in the following publication: Donati GFA, Parravicini V, Leprieur F, Hagen O, Gaboriau T, Heine C, Kulbicki M, Rolland J, Salamin N, Albouy C, Pellissier L. "A process-based model supports an association between dispersal and the prevalence of species traits in tropical reef fish assemblages" accepted by Ecography in August 2019. When using this data and R scripts the above publication should be cited. The interaction of habitat dynamics with species dispersal abilities could generate gradients in species diversity and prevalence of life-history and ecological traits, when the latter are associated with dispersal potential. In this dataset, we use a spatial mechanistic model of speciation, extinction and dispersal, constrained by a dispersal parameter. This model allows to simulate the interplay between reef habitat dynamics over the past 140 million years and dispersal, shaping lineage diversification history and global assemblage composition of over 6000 tropical reef fish species. Global trait distribution data of tropical reef fish are used to evaluate the congruence between simulations and observations.