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Northernmost Occurrence of Zanclus cornutus (Zanclidae) in the Eastern Pacific (Northern Gulf of California, Mexico)

Thalassas: An International Journal of Marine Sciences volume 34, pages 301–304 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

The Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758)) is a tropical species that is distributed extensively in rocky and coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean, within the Gulf of California, its presence has been reported only in its southern region. In this work, the presence of Z. cornutus in the central and northern Gulf of California is confirmed, specifically in the Coronados islands (25.71534 ° N, −110.77567 ° W) and San Pedro Nolasco (27.9530 ° N, 111.3663 ° W). These records increase their distribution 200 km north of their known limit. This finding seems to be another example of a trend recently observed in several species of tropical fish, they have expanded their distribution towards the center and the north of the Gulf of California in possible response to the warming of the Gulf.

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Acknowledgements

Grants to conduct field work and analyses of the data were provided by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (project Fronteras en la Ciencia FON.INST./26/2016, to HRB), German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Sandler Foundation and the NGOs Comunidad y Biodiversidad AC, Pronatura Noroeste and The Nature Conservancy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comunidad y Biodiversidad A.C., Isla del Peruano 215, Col. Lomas de Miramar, C.P. 85448, Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico

    Francisco J. Fernández-Rivera Melo & Fernanda Pérez-Alarcón

  2. Departamento de Ciencias Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, Carretera al sur km 5.5., Col. El Mezquitito, CP 23080, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico

    Héctor Reyes-Bonilla & Violeta Martínez-Castillo

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  1. Francisco J. Fernández-Rivera Melo
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  2. Héctor Reyes-Bonilla
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  3. Violeta Martínez-Castillo
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  4. Fernanda Pérez-Alarcón
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Correspondence to Francisco J. Fernández-Rivera Melo.

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Fernández-Rivera Melo, F.J., Reyes-Bonilla, H., Martínez-Castillo, V. et al. Northernmost Occurrence of Zanclus cornutus (Zanclidae) in the Eastern Pacific (Northern Gulf of California, Mexico). Thalassas 34, 301–304 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-017-0064-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-017-0064-8

Keywords

  • Moorish idol
  • Record
  • Sea of Cortes
  • Distribution
  • Aquarium fish