First record of African Hind , Cephalopholis taeniops ( Valenciennes , 1828 ) ( Perciformes , Epinephelidae ) in the South-western Atlantic

Recent studies reported the introduction of non-native species on the Brazilian coast. In this contribution, we provide the first record of Cephalopholis taeniops (Valenciennes 1828) in the western South Atlantic, based on a specimen captured off the Ilhas Cagarras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and discuss the potential agents for its introduction. While this single specimen was collected in 2006 in a well-known locality, no other specimen has been captured since.

Here we present the first record of Cephalopholis taeniops for the south-western Atlantic, and discuss its putative ways of introduction.

Methods
Measurements and meristic counts follow Heemstra and Randall (1993).Data obtained from the specimen of Cephalopholis taeniops of this study matched the measurements and meristic data provided by Heemstra (1991), Ben Abdallah et al. (2007), Salameh et al. (2009) Identification.Cephalopholis taeniops can be diagnosed from the Atlantic congeners by possessing 68-72 lateralline scales (vs 46-54 in C. fulva, 47-51 (Heemstra and Randall 1993).In addition, C. taeniops can be distinguished from C. cruentata and C. nigri by the presence of blue spots on head, body and fins of live specimens (vs red spots) and 9-10 anal-fin rays (vs 8 anal-fin rays) (McEachran andFechhelm 1998, Heemstra andAnderson 2016).The color pattern is most similar to Cephalopholis fulva (Figs 1b,2B), and differs from it by having the caudal fin rounded (vs caudal fin convex), no black spots on the dorsal portion of the caudal peduncle, and on the tip of lower jaw (vs black spots on dorsal portion of caudal peduncle and at tip of lower jaw), dark distal margin of caudal fin in preserved  specimen (vs hyaline margin of caudal fin in preserved specimen), spots on anal fin (vs no spots on anal fin) and the presence of a stout blue line below the eye, and a light blue line on lower jaw (vs lines on head absent).Body covered with small scales.Ctenoid scales restricted to laterals.Lateral line barely visible with scales inconspicuous and separated.Dorsal, anal and caudal fin covered with scales, except on margins.

Description. Morphometric measurements and meristic counts are given in
Spiny part of dorsal fin continuous with soft, origin of dorsal fin at level of vertical passing on posterior margin of operculum, first spine smaller than remaining spines.Membranes between dorsal fin spines incised.Pelvic-fin rays unbranched, inserted slightly posterior to base of pectoral fin, longest ray reaching anus when adpressed against body.Pectoral-fin rays unbranched, origin posterior to head, margin slightly pointed.Anal-fin origin immediately posterior to the anus, second spine longer than remaining spines.Posterior margin of dorsal and anal fins rounded.Caudal fin rounded.
In vivo coloration (based on photography of recently dead specimen): Body orangish red.Blue spots with dark margin evenly distributed on entire body, except on ventral part of head and abdomen, first and second anal-fin spines, distal two-thirds of pectoral fin, and pelvic fin.One light blue line without dark margin on lower jaw.Anterior portion of horizontal arm of preopercle with 2 parenthesis-like lines, with a central small spot between them.Eye red with black pupil.Soft portion of dorsal fin, anal, pelvic, and caudal fins with iridescent blue margin.
Preserved specimen coloration: Ground color of body uniformly beige with spots and lines on body, head and fins brown.Pectoral fin beige becoming dark grey posteriorly.Distal margin of soft rays of the dorsal, anal, pelvic and caudal fins black.
Distribution.Cephalopholis taeniops naturally occurs in the tropical eastern Atlantic, ranging from Western Sahara to Angola and Cape Verde, São Tomé and Principe Islands (Heemstra and Randall 1993).It was recently reported as introduced from several parts of eastern North Atlantic, including the Canary Islands (Brito et al. 2011), and Israel, Lampedusa island, Libya, Malta and Turkey, in the Mediterranean Sea (Ben Abdallah et al. 2007, Salameh et al. 2009, Guidetti et al. 2010, Vella et al. 2016, Engin et al. 2016) (Fig. 3).

Discussion
Few reef-fish species are known to occur natively on both eastern and western Atlantic (e.g.Menezes et al. 2003, Carvalho Filho andPaiva 2017).However, in contrast to the present report of Cephalopholis taeniops, amphi-atlantic species usually are collected in more than 1 locality, even for vagrant species (sensu Joyeux et al. 2001).The specimen of C. taeniops reported herein was collected at the Ilhas Cagarras, located circa 4 km from one of the best known urban beaches in Rio de Janeiro (Fig. 3), and a common destination for biologists, scuba dive companies, and local fishermen (Moraes et al. 2013).As a consequence, the ichthyofauna of the archipelago is well known (Rangel et al. 2007, Monteiro-Neto et al. 2013) with studies dating from the beginning of the last century (Miranda-Ribeiro 1903).Thus, it is unlikely that another specimen of C. taeniops could pass unperceived.This along with the rarity of cases of natural invasions from Eastern to Western Atlantic (Joyeux et al. 2001) led us to assume it was an anthropogenic introduction.The release of an aquarium specimen is unlikely, since no report of C. taeniops imported to Brazil is known, and the importing of the species is not allowed in Brazil (IBAMA 2018).Due to the lack of data on larval stages, it is not possible to determine if this species was introduced through ship ballast water (Carlton 1996).
The incidental transport of this specimen made by an oil platform, which may have functioned as a moving reef, is plausible.This species has been already observed associated to oil platforms in the Canary Islands (Brito et al. 2011, Pajuelo et al. 2016).According to Brito et al. (2011), the transport via oil platform explains how adult specimens of Cephalopholis taeniops have arrived in the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean Sea.This hypothesis is also supported by the fact that oil platforms usually are repaired near the Pai and Mãe islands, circa 10 km from the Cagarras Archipelago (Moraes, personal com-  (Heemstra and Randall 1993, Ben Abdallah et al. 2007, Salameh et al. 2009, Guidetti et al. 2010, Brito et al. 2011, Vella et al. 2016and Engin et al. 2016).New record (star).
Since only a single specimen was captured in 12 years, it indicates that this species was not successful in colonizing the southwest Atlantic.However, future captures of non-native species need to be analyzed and monitored, due to the uncertainty of the impact of these introductions on native species.
spines posteriorly.Upper spine of operculum slanted, central spine longest and closer to lower spine than to upper, upper and lower spine covered with scales.Preoperculum roundish, lower margin finely serrated.Nostrils close together in front of the eye, anterior nostril with a tubular membrane, posterior nostril elevated without membrane.