The marine biodiversity of the Maltese Islands is constantly being revised with new species additions being continuously recorded.

 

The marine biodiversity of the Maltese Islands is constantly being revised with new species additions being continuously recorded. As the Mediterranean warms up, an increasing number of non-indigenous marine species coming through the Suez Canal or the Straits of Gibraltar colonise the basin. While the influx through the Suez Canal – the so-called Lessepsian migration – is much publicised, the Atlantic ‘invasion’ through the Straits of Gibraltar, though more subtle, is still very evident. In the central Mediterranean region alone, for example, at least 13 exotic (non-indigenous) species of Atlantic origin have been recorded in recent years. Recently, a new fish species – the African hind (Cephalopholis taeniops) – has been observed and photographed in two different locations; in Cirkewwa (January 2011 − at a depth of ca. 35m) and off Exiles Point in Sliema (August 2009 − at a depth of ca. 40m). Such a species belongs to the grouper family and have a very flamboyant and distinctive livery (body colouration) consisting of a red/orange and green body peppered with blue spots. It is native to the tropical Atlantic waters off the western coast of Africa, and is known as ‘Carnaval’ in Cape Verde due to its gaudy colours. Such a fish can reach a maximum length of 70cm, but rarely exceeds 40cm, and is recorded from depths ranging from 20m to 200m. The discovery comes in the wake of other fish novelties recorded in recent years (e.g. spotted scat – Zammit & Schembri, 2011; barred knifejaw – Schembri et al., 2010; African moonfish – Vella & Deidun, 2008) and of other marine species, aside from fish, reported for the first time, such as the upside-down jellyfish (Schembri et al., 2009) and the nomadic jellyfish (Deidun et al., 2011). The author is grateful to Shaun Arrigo (Planet Sea) and to Edward Scicluna (Atlam) for sharing their African hind records. The new record of the African hind in the Maltese Islands is being published in The Journal of the Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment