Holocentrus adscensionis (Osbeck, 1765)

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

Holocentrus adscensionis (Osbeck, 1765) , squirrelfish

Material examined. – ICCM399 , one resting male, 219 mm TL, 167 mm SL, off La Laja Beach, 28°03’N 15°25’W, 15–24 m, 15 Feb. 2015, rocks with sand ( Fig. 2A ) .

Sightings and catches. – Once, n = 1, same locality ( Fig. 3 ).

Remarks. – A tropical and subtropical reef-associated species, living from the shoreline to 180 m of depth ( Smith, 1997), usually at 8-30 m ( Wyatt, 1983). It occurs in shallow coral reefs as well as deeper offshore waters ( Woods and Greenfield, 1978). A nocturnal species, hiding in deep crevices or under coral ledges during the day; at night, it usually moves over sand and seagrass beds, taking mainly crabs and other small crustaceans ( Greenfield, 1981). Maximum length published is 610 mm TL. An amphi-Atlantic species. In the West Atlantic, it ranges from North Carolina, USA and Bermuda to Brazil ( Woods and Greenfield, 1978; Robins and Ray, 1986; Greenfield, 2003). In the mid-Atlantic: St. Paul’s Rocks, Ascension and St. Helena Islands ( Wirtz et al., 2007). In the East Atlantic, it is known from Annobón Island ( Wirtz et al., 2007) and São Tomé Island ( Osório, 1898; Afonso et al., 1999; Wirtz et al., 2007), and from Gabon to Angola ( Greenfield, 1981); absent from the Cape Verde Islands ( Wirtz et al., 2013; Hanel and John, 2015).

H. adscensionis was first reported from the Canaries by Castro-Hernández and Martín-Gutiérrez (2000) based on one individual caught off Castillo del Romeral, south-eastern coast of Gran Canaria. Brito et al. (2002) reported on a total of nine individuals all collected at the eastern coast of Gran Canaria. One more individual was sighted and photographed alive off Punta de La Sal, eastern coast of Gran Canaria ( Espino et al., 2014). Another individual (220 mm TL, 168 mm SL) caught at the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (rocky breakwater, 20-30 m) in October 2014 was identified by the second author and deposited as a museum voucher (TFMCBM-VP/1949).

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.