Northernmost occurrence of the offshore rockfish, Pontinus kuhlii (Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae), in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

An adult male specimen of the offshore rockfish, Pontinus kuhlii (Bowdich, 1825), was caught off the coast of Alghero (NW Sardinia, Italy) in August 2004. That capture represents the second documented record of this Atlantic migrant in Italian waters, after more than a century from the first report. Furthermore, the new specimen is the largest specimen of this species ever recorded in the Mediterranean Basin and the most northern capture for this geographic area. Morphologic and meristic characters of the collected fish are described and the existence of a Mediterranean population is hypothesized.

Keywords

• fish
• zoogeography
• offshore rockfish
• Pontinus ku