Parablennius pilicornis (Cuvier, 1829)

Iglésias, Samuel P., Bergot, Patricia, Breton, Pascal, Brunelle, Stéphanie, Camusat, Mathieu, Causse, Romain, Charbonnel, Éric, Chevaldonné, Pierre, Cordier, Yves, Cosquer, Paul, Cuillandre, Jean-Pierre, Curd, Amelia, Dubas, Rémy, Duhau, Muriel, Derrien-Courtel, Sandrine, Devique, Gabriel, Dixneuf, Stéphane, Duhamel, Erwan, Farque, Pierre-André, Francour, Patrice, Fontana, Yann, Gamon, Adelaïde, Gicqueau, Charly, Goascoz, Nicolas, Hassani, Sami, Jadaud, Angélique, Kopp, Dorothée, Lamour, Laure, Bris, Sylvain Le, Lévèque, Laurent, Liger, Pablo, Lorance, Pascal, Louisy, Patrick, Maran, Vincent, Méhault, Sonia, Metral, Luisa, Morin-Repinçay, Alizée, Mouchel, Olivier, Pere, Anthony, Quéro, Jean-Claude, Renoult, Julien P., Roche, François, Schweyer, Livier, Spitz, Jérôme, Thiriet, Pierre & Thomas, Wilfried, 2020, French ichthyological records for 2018, Cybium 44 (4), pp. 285-307 : 296

Parablennius pilicornis (Cuvier, 1829)

A Ringneck blenny, Blenniidae ( Fig. 6A ), with a marbled brown colour pattern, was observed on 6 May 2018 while scuba-diving off north Magouër in the Etel River (Loire- Atlantique, France), at Station No. 27 of the REBENT program, at 47.6611°N, – 3.2107°W, at 8 m depth. The specimen was estimated to measure ~ 8 cm TL. Recorded by S. Derrien-Courtel. A second specimen, with a black colour pattern, was observed on 20 May 2018 while spear fishing on the Pladen rocks (Bay of La Forêt, southern Brittany, France), at 47.8694°N, – 3.9408°W, at roughly 4 m depth. The specimen was estimated to measure 12 cm TL. Record- ed by S.P. Iglésias. A total of 42 individuals ( Fig. 6B , Tab. II) were observed in the Bay of Morlaix (Northern Brittany, France) during a standardized scuba diving fish visual census (PoCoRocH survey carried out by P. Thiriet). Shallow rocky reefs were selected as sampling sites to cover the whole Bay of Morlaix. Each site was surveyed by scuba diving during one hour, repeated four times during the year 2018. Ringneck blennies were observed in seven out of eight sampling sites and thus can be considered ubiquitous in the Bay. The only site without records was the outermost, very exposed site, named Astan. As regards seasonal variations, three individuals were observed in late spring (between 23 May 2018 and 7 Jun.) and 21 individuals were observed in late summer-early fall (between 18 Sep. 2018 and 4 Oct.). Individuals in late spring were estimated to be between 6 and 10 cm TL (median = 7 cm). Individuals in late summer-early fall were sized between 4 and 12 cm TL (median = 10 cm). In terms of colour patterns, small sized individuals (<6 cm TL) usually displayed a white and black pattern ( Pastor and Francour, 2010; Louisy, 2015). Larger individuals were usually marbled brown. Two large (> 10 cm TL) individuals were observed with a dark pattern characterizing spawning males. As regards habitat and depth distributions, most of individuals were observed in rocky circalittoral benthic habitats usually dominated by sessile fauna. Twelve individuals were observed between 12 and 14 m depth TC (tide corrected). Seven individuals were observed between 17 and 19 m depth TC. Five individuals were observed between 7 and 9 m depth TC. Habitats in this shallower strata were either Laminaria spp. beds or dominated by red algae. Recorded by P. Thiriet, L. Lévèque and G. Devique. The Ringneck blenny was first recorded in the southern Bay of Biscay, in French waters, in 1957 ( Bath, 1977). It was again recorded in the Basque country where it became common ( Quéro et al., 2003a, De Casamajor, 2004). Three individuals were observed by S.P. Iglésias (unpubl.) around 2005 in the Bay of La Forêt (Southern Finistère, France), one close to the Marine Station of Concarneau at 47.8681°N, – 3.9185°W. It was recorded in the northern Bay of Biscay, at the Groix Island on 16 Oct. 2009 ( Quéro et al., 2010) about 47.64°N. Various observations were performed in the Bay of Biscay by scuba divers in 2014-2016 ( Limouzin et al., 2015b, 2015c; Roulleau et al., 2015; Jouandoudet et al., 2016). The present specimens from southern Brittany represent additional records for the northern Bay of Biscay. The present records from northern Brittany are the first records from the area and they possibly represent the first records for the English Channel. The Ringneck blenny appears to be undergoing a rapid northern range expansion in European Atlantic waters in the last decades, as was the case previously in the Mediterranean ( Pastor and Francour, 2010). This species is now considered established along the French coast of Bay of Biscay and up to the Bay of Morlaix in the English Channel.

Figures

Figure 6. – Significant French ichthyological records for 2018 (continued). A: Parablennius pilicornis, ~8 cm TL, 6 May 2018 (reversed photograph); B: Parablennius pilicornis, ~10 cm TL, 7 Jun. 2018; C: Parablennius ruber, ~12 cm TL, 5 Aug. 2018; D: Parablennius ruber, ~8-9 cm TL, 4 Sep. 2018; E: Parablennius ruber, ~9-10 cm TL, 4 Oct. 2018.