Early-life stages play a key role in the dynamics of bipartite life cycle marine fish populations. Difficult to monitor, observations of these stages are often scattered in space and time. While Mediterranean coastlines have been highly surveyed, no effort was made to assemble historical observations. Here we build an exhaustive compilation of dispersal traits for coastal fish species, considering in-situ observations and growth models. Our database contains over 110 000 entries collected from 1993 to 2021 in various subregions. All observations are harmonized to inform on dates and geolocations of both spawning and settlement, along with pelagic larval durations. When applicable, missing dates and associated confidence intervals are reconstructed from Dynamic Energy Budget theory. Statistical analyses allow revisiting traits’ variability and revealing sampling biases across taxa, space and time, hence providing recommendations for future studies and sampling. Comparison of observed and modelled entries gives hints to improve the feed of observations into models. Overall, this long-term database is a crucial step to investigate how marine fish populations respond to global changes across environmental gradients.