Lepadogaster purpurea (Actinopterygii: Gobiesociformes: Gobiesocidae) from the eastern Mediterranean Sea: Significantly extended distribution range

Abstract

The Cornish sucker, Lepadogaster purpurea (Bonnaterre, 1788), a clingfish species thus far known from the north-eastern Atlantic south to western Africa, the Canary Islands and Madeira, and the western Mediterranean basin, was recently collected in Sicily (Italy), Croatia and Greece. Species identification was based on morphological and/or molecular data. These new Mediterranean records of L. purpurea are the first evidence of the species’ occurrence in the eastern Mediterranean basin and significantly extend its known distribution range, which likely mirrors that of its sister species Lepadogaster lepadogaster (Bonnaterre, 1788).

Keywords

• clingfish
• biogeography
• overlooked diversity
• sis