Myrichthys pardalis (Valenciennes, 1839)

González, José A., Martins, Albertino, Santana, José I., Triay-Portella, Raül, Monteiro, Carlos, García-Martín, Verónica, Jiménez, Sebastián, González-Lorenzo, Gustavo, Pajuelo, José G., Lorenzo, José M. & Biscoito, Manuel, 2014, New and rare records of teleost fishes from the Cape Verde Islands (eastern-central Atlantic Ocean), Cybium 38 (4), pp. 289-300 : 291-293

Myrichthys pardalis (Valenciennes, 1839)

Material examined. - MMF 43114, 390 mm TL, 16°35’N 22°54’W, Baía de Santa Maria , Sal Island, cruise Cabo Verde 2005‑06, caught at surface over a substrate of sand and pebbles with green ( Avrainvillea sp. ) and red algae and rhodoliths at 13 m depth, 21 Jul. 2012, hand net .

Additional material. - Another specimen was caught at 15°26’N 23°27’W, Bancona Bank , NE of Santiago Island , cruise Taliarte 2003‑08, caught at surface over a hard substrate at 35‑40 m depth, 17 Aug. 2003, hand net.

Remarks. - A tropical demersal eastern Atlantic species found burrowing in coarse sand along rocky coasts. Known from the Canary Islands and Western Sahara ( Leiby, 1990), the Cape Verdes ( Franca and Vasconcelos, 1962; Blache and Cadenat, 1971; Brito et al., 1999) and São Tomé Island ( Afonso et al., 1999) to Annobon Island, Equatorial Guinea ( Leiby, 1990). Information on its bathymetric distribution is scarce. In the Canaries it has been found between 3 and 15 m ( Brito et al., 2002), and recently between 1 and 25 m (in sea grass meadows) ( Espino et al., 2007; Arturo Boyra, pers. com. 2014). Our specimens were caught while actively swimming at surface at night, over 13 to 35 m depth, probably due to the large number of small organisms concentrated around the vessel, attracted by its bright lights.