Paranthias furcifer (Valenciennes, 1828)

González-Lorenzo, J. Gustavo, González-Jiménez, José F. & González, José A., 2021, Review of the family Serranidae (Perciformes) from the Canary Islands (eastern-central Atlantic), with the first records of Serranus hepatus and Epinephelus aeneus, Cybium 45 (2), pp. 141-154 : 148

Paranthias furcifer (Valenciennes, 1828)

– Creole fish

Paranthias furcifer : Triay-Portella et al., 2015: 165-166 (GC); Báez et al., 2019: suppl. tab. (C).

Although primarily a western Atlantic species, it should now be considered as an amphi-Atlantic warm-affinity species ( Triay-Portella et al., 2015). In the eastern Atlantic it is reported from Ascension Island and Bay of Biafra ( Príncipe, São Tomé, and Annobon Islands) ( Parenti and Randall, 2020).

It is a rare non-native species in the Canary Islands, being sighted by the authors five times on NE and E coasts of Gran Canaria between 6 and 21 m depth. It was first recorded by Triay-Portella et al. (2015), based on several individuals caught in April and May of 2015. Since then, only one more adult individual – caught on the north-eastern coast of Gran Canaria on the seaways to its two main ports – was reported to us in 2019 by recreational fishers. Reported maximum size: to 36 cm TL.