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Confirmation of Mola mola (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae) and historical records of ocean sunfishes (Mola sp.) in the coastal area of Uruguay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2015

R. Gurdek Bas ,
W. Serra ,
R. Trinchin ,
V. Leoni ,
L. Rubio ,
L. Sampognaro ,
G. Nagy ,
A. Cravino  and
A. Acuña
R. Gurdek Bas*
Affiliation:
Sección de Oceanografía y Ecología Marina, Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Iguá 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
W. Serra
Affiliation:
Sección Ictiología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, CC. 399, Montevideo, Uruguay
R. Trinchin
Affiliation:
Sección Ictiología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, CC. 399, Montevideo, Uruguay
V. Leoni
Affiliation:
Sección Ictiología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, CC. 399, Montevideo, Uruguay
L. Rubio
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Oceanografía, Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos, Constituyente 1497, CP 11200, Montevideo, Uruguay
L. Sampognaro
Affiliation:
Sección de Oceanografía y Ecología Marina, Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Iguá 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
G. Nagy
Affiliation:
Grupo de Cambio Ambiental y Gestión Costero-Marina, Facultad de Ciencias, UdelaR, Iguá 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
A. Cravino
Affiliation:
Grupo Biodiversidad y Ecología de la Conservación, Facultad de Ciencias, UdelaR, Iguá 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
A. Acuña
Affiliation:
Sección de Oceanografía y Ecología Marina, Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Iguá 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: R. Gurdek Bas, Facultad de Ciencias, Sección de Oceanografía y Ecología Marina, Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de la República, Igua 4225, CP 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay email: rgurdek@gmail.com
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Abstract

Mola mola is distributed from temperate to tropical oceans. The scarce reports on the occurrence of the species in the Uruguayan coast were based on incomplete morphological studies on collected specimens that could not properly discard the congeneric Mola ramsayi. This work constitutes confirmation of the occurrence of Mola mola in the coastal area of Uruguay, based on morphological characters of a specimen collected in April 2013. The fish occurred 100 m offshore in the Río de la Plata estuary (at a depth of 5 m), in an area with a water temperature between 19 and 19.5°C. Morphometric data is provided. The specimen is preserved in the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Montevideo (Uruguay).

Keywords

Mola molaocean sunfishconfirmation recordcoastal areasatellite imagesRío de la Plata estuaryUruguay
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 8 , 2015 , e21
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

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