Abstract
The occurrence of the fish Cephalopholis taeniops (Serranidae: Epinephelinae) has been recorded for the first time in the Canary Islands (eastern subtropical Atlantic). Repeated observations of adult stages of the species (≈30 cm total length) inside oil platforms coming from the Gulf of Guinea greatly suggest an introduction related to the transport of ballast water in these structures, and show their importance in the dispersal of adult stages of large-sized species of littoral fish. Oil platforms constitute one special case in the introduction of marine species in the context of ballast water transport. This poorly known phenomenon may greatly favour marine species invasion, and might have significant repercussions in many regions -especially in the current climate change context- as well as explaining some surprising cases of occurrence of expatriated adult individuals of certain species.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the divers undertaking maintenance work of vessels in the ports of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz, especially O. Domínguez. We are also grateful to the sub-aqua fisherman A. Quintana. Thanks to M. M. Brito Campos and G. Jones, who assisted with the translation into English. This study was conducted within the framework of the ‘Proyecto Estructurante en Ciencias Marinas’ funded by the ‘Agencia Canaria de Investigación, Innovación y Sociedad de la Información’.
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Brito, A., Clemente, S. & Herrera, R. On the occurrence of the African hind, Cephalopholis taeniops, in the Canary Islands (eastern subtropical Atlantic): introduction of large-sized demersal littoral fishes in ballast water of oil platforms?. Biol Invasions 13, 2185–2189 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-0049-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-0049-0