Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T19:05:46.864Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

First record of the redlip blenny Ophioblennius atlanticus (Osteichthyes: Blenniidae) in the Mediterranean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2015

Mark-Anthony Falzon*
Affiliation:
University of Malta, 9 Erin Serracino Inglott Street, Cospicua, Malta
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M.A. Falzon, University of Malta, 9, Erin Serracino Inglott Street, Cospicua, Malta email: markanthonyfalzon@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

The redlip blenny, Ophioblennius atlanticus, is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, (central Mediterranean, Malta). The morphology of the fish and the sighting location are described here and the biogeographical relevance of the record discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Almada, V.C., Oliveira, R.F., Gonçalves, E.J., Almeida, A.J., Santos, R.S. and Wirtz, P. (2001) Patterns of diversity of the north-eastern Atlantic blenniid fish fauna (Pisces: Blenniidae). Global Ecology and Biogeography 10, 411422.Google Scholar
Borg, J.J. (2009) First record of the Deepsea Cardinalfish, Epigonus telescopus (Risso, 1810), from Maltese waters (Central Mediterranean) (Pisces Epigonidae). Naturalista Siciliano S. IV XXXIII, 127130.Google Scholar
Castriota, L. and Deidun, A. (2014) First record of Pontinus kuhlii in Maltese waters. Marine Biodiversity Records 7, e2, doi: 10.1017/S1755267213001188.Google Scholar
Cilia, J.L. (1990) On some previously unrecorded Blenniidae and Gobiidae from Maltese waters. The Central Mediterranean Naturalist 2, 513.Google Scholar
David, M. and Gollasch, S. (2008) EU shipping in the dawn of managing the ballast water issue. Marine Pollution Bulletin 56, 19661972.Google Scholar
Deidun, A., Castriota, L. and Arrigo, S. (2011) A tale of two Atlantic fish migrants: records of the lesser amberjack Seriola fasciata and the African hind Cephalopholis taeniops from the Maltese Islands. Journal of the Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment 17, 223233.Google Scholar
Deidun, A., Vella, P., Sciberras, A. and Sammut, R. (2010) New records of Lobotes surinamensis (Bloch, 1790) in Maltese coastal waters. Aquatic Invasions 5, S113S116.Google Scholar
Deidun, A. and Castriota, L. (2014) First records of Abudefduf cfr saxatilis Linnaeus, 1758 (Perciformes: Pomacentridae) from the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean). BioInvasions Records 3, 5356.Google Scholar
Despott, G. (1919) The Ichthyology of Malta. Malta: Critien's Press.Google Scholar
Falzon, D. and Falzon, V. (2013) First records of Black-headed Blenny Microlipophrys nigriceps (Osteichthyes Perciformes Blenniidae) in Malta. Naturalista Siciliano S. IV, XXXVII, 581586.Google Scholar
Falzon, M.A. (1999) A survey of Blenniidae, Clinidae, and Tripterygiidae (Pisces) in Maltese waters (central Mediterranean), including four previously unrecorded species. The Central Mediterranean Naturalist 3, 1722.Google Scholar
Falzon, M.A. (2009) Lipophrys dalmatinus (Pisces Perciformes Blenniidae), a new species for Malta (central Mediterranean). Naturalista Siciliano S. IV, XXXIII, 279282.Google Scholar
Froese, R. and Pauly, D. (2014) Fishbase. Available at: http://fishbase.org/summary/3768 (accessed 8 December 2014).Google Scholar
Golani, D. (2004) First record of the muzzled blenny (Osteichthyes: Blenniidae: Omobranchus punctatus) from the Mediterranean, with remarks on ship-mediated fish introduction. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84, 851852.Google Scholar
Greenfield, D.W. and Johnson, R.K. (1990) Community structure of western Caribbean blennoid fishes. Copeia 1990, 433448.Google Scholar
Gulia, G. (1861) Tentamen Ichthyologiae melitensis sistens methodo naturali stripum objectis nonullis observationibus genera ac species, a recentoribus de re zoologica scriptoribus admissas piscium insularis Melitae. Malta: Tipographia Anglica.Google Scholar
Labelle, M. and Nursall, J.R. (1985) Some aspects of the early life history of the redlip blenny, Ophioblennius atlanticus. Copeia 1985, 3949.Google Scholar
Labelle, M. and Nursall, J.R. (1992) Population biology of the Redlip blenny, Ophioblennius atlanticus macclurei (Sylvester) in Barbados. Bulletin of Marine Science 50, 186204.Google Scholar
Lanfranco, G. (1993) The fish around Malta (Central Mediterranean). Revised edition, first published in 1958. Malta: Progress Press.Google Scholar
Maceda-Veiga, A., Escribano-Alacid, J., de Sostoa, A. and García-Berthou, E. (2013) The aquarium trade as a potential source of fish introductions in southwestern Europe. Biological Invasions 15, 27072716.Google Scholar
, P. and Almeida, A.J. (1981) Observations on the biology of Ophioblennius atlanticus atlanticus (Valenciennes in Cuv. & Val., 1836) (Pisces: Blenniidae) from the Azores. Arquivos do Museu Bocage 5, 4150.Google Scholar
Schembri, P.J., Deidun, A. and Falzon, M.A. (2012) One Siganus or two? On the occurrence of Siganus luridus and Siganus rivulatus in the Maltese Islands. Marine Biodiversity Records 5, e71, doi: 10.1017/S175526721200053X.Google Scholar
Schembri, P.J. and Tonna, R. (2011) Occurrence of the Malabar grouper Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Actinopterygii, Perciformes, Serranidae), in the Maltese Islands. Aquatic Invasions 6, S129S132.Google Scholar
Sciberras, M. and Schembri, P.J. (2007) A critical review of records of alien marine species from the Maltese Islands and surrounding waters (Central Mediterranean). Mediterranean Marine Science 8, 4166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Semmens, B.X., Buhle, E.R., Salomon, A.K. and Pattengill-Semmens, C.V. (2004) A hotspot of non-native marine fishes: evidence for the aquarium trade as an invasion pathway. Marine Ecology Progress Series 266, 239244.Google Scholar
Springer, V.G. (1962) A review of blenniid fishes of the genus Ophioblennius (Gill). Copeia 1962, 426433.Google Scholar
Trapani, G. (1838) A catalogue of the different kinds of fish of Malta and Gozo, with their Maltese, Latin, Italian, English, and French names, as well as their season. Malta: Government Press.Google Scholar
Valdés, Á., Alexander, J., Crocetta, F., Baki Yokeş, M., Giacobbe, S., Poursanidis, D., Zenetos, A., Cervera, J.L., Caballer, M., Galil, B.S. and Schembri, P.J. (2013) The origin and dispersal pathway of the spotted sea hare Aplysia dactylomela (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia) in the Mediterranean Sea. Aquatic Invasions 8, 427436.Google Scholar
Vella, P. and Deidun, A. (2008) First record of Selene dorsalis (Osteichthyes: Carangidae) in the Mediterranean Sea, from coastal waters off the Maltese Islands. Marine Biodiversity Records 2, e125, doi: 10.1017/S1755267209001146.Google Scholar
Wonham, M.J., Carlton, J.T., Ruiz, G.M. and Smith, L.D. (2000) Fish and ships: relating dispersal frequency to success in biological invasions. Marine Biology 136, 11111121.Google Scholar
Zammit, E. and Schembri, P.J. (2011) An overlooked and unexpected introduction? Occurrence of the Spotted scat Scatophagus argus (Linnaeus, 1766) (Osteichthyes: Scatophagidae) in the Maltese Islands. Aquatic Invasions 6, S79S83.Google Scholar