Paranthias furcifer (Valenciennes, 1828)

Triay-Portella, Raül, Pajuelo, José G., Manent, Pablo, Espino, Fernando, Ruiz-Díaz, Raquel, Lorenzo, José M. & González, José A., 2015, New records of non-indigenous fishes (Perciformes and Tetraodontiformes) from the Canary Islands (north-eastern Atlantic), Cybium 39 (3), pp. 163-174 : 165-167

Paranthias furcifer (Valenciennes, 1828) , creole-fish

Material examined. – MMF44365 , one post-spawning male, 340 mm TL, 264 mm SL, old dike of Arinaga, 27°51’N 15°23’W, 6-8 m, 16 Apr. 2015, rocky substrate ( Fig. 2C ) . MMF44490 , one post-spawning male, 352 mm TL, 279 mm SL, dike Reina Sofía, 28°07’N 15°24’W, 15 m over a bottom of 24 m of depth, 11 May 2015, rocks .

Sightings and catches. – Four times, n = 27: dike Reina Sofía, 12-15 m over a bottom of 21 m of depth, rocky breakwater; off La Isleta, 28°10’N 15°24’W, 19–20 m, rocks; old dike of Arinaga, 6-8 m, rocky substrate ( Fig. 3 ).

Remarks. – A tropical and subtropical reef-associated species ( Heemstra and Randall, 1993), living between 8 and 100 m of depth ( Lieske and Myers, 1994), usually at 10-66 m ( Randall, 1996). Inhabits coral reefs and hard bottom areas. Observed in feeding aggregations above reefs. Feeds mainly in midwater on zooplankton (copepods, pelagic tunicates, shrimps and shrimp larvae) ( Heemstra and Randall, 1993; Lieske and Myers, 1994). Paranthias Guichenot, 1868 is a unique genus of groupers that have a small mouth [with a more protrusible upper jaw than in other groupers], small teeth, numerous [long] gill rakers, fusiform body, and deeply forked caudal fin – all representing departures from the typical grouper morphology, and all specializations for feeding in mid-water on zooplankton ( Randall, 1967). Paranthias feed mainly on small planktonic animals that are picked individually from the water, and their shortened snout (compared to other groupers), which facilitates close-range binocular vision, is thus another specialization for this type of plankton feeding ( Heemstra and Randall, 1993). Maximum length published is 300 mm SL. It seems to be primarily a western Atlantic species, distributed from Bermuda and south Florida, USA to São Paulo, Brazil ( Heemstra and Randall, 1993). In the mid-Atlantic: Ascension Island ( Cadenat and Marchal, 1963; Wirtz et al., 2014). In the East Atlantic: known from the Gulf of Guinea islands of Annobón, São Tomé and Príncipe ( Osório, 1893; Wirtz et al., 2007) and Bioko ( Wirtz et al., 2007).

This is the first record for P. furcifer from the Canary Islands.

Figures

Figure 2. - Non-native species introduced to the Canaries. A: Holocentrus adscensionis; B: Cephalopholis taeniops; C: Paranthias furcifer; D: Prognathodes marcellae; E: Abudefduf saxatilis; F: Abudefduf hoefleri; G: Acanthurus bahianus; H: Acanthurus coeruleus; I: Acanthurus chirurgus; J: Acanthurus monroviae; K: Cantherhines pullus. Scale bars = 5 cm.

Figure 3. - Collection locations for the new records from the Canaries. 1: Holocentrus adscensionis, 2: Cephalopholis taeniops, 3: Paranthias furcifer, 4: Prognathodes marcellae, 5: Abudefduf saxatilis, 6: Abudefduf hoefleri, 7: Acanthurus bahianus, 8: Acanthurus coeru- leus, 9: Acanthurus chirurgus, 10: Acanthurus monroviae, 11: Cantherhines pullus.