The first record of the non-indigenous 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘹𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴 Valenciennes, 1835 (Actinopterygii: Acanthuridae) in Sicilian waters suggests a rapid westward dispersal in the Mediterranean

Abstract

A sub-adult individual of Acanthurus xanthopterus Valenciennes, 1835 was caught from the shallow waters off the southeastern coast of Sicily, Italy, in autumn 2024. The subsequent taxonomic species identification was carried out through integrated morphological and molecular analyses. The species is recorded for the first time from Italian waters. This record, that comes just three years after its first collection from Egyptian Mediterranean waters, seems to indicate a rapid westward expansion of this tropical Indo-Pacific acanthurid from the east to the central Mediterranean Sea, although additional (and independent) introduction events could be contemplated, due to the current scarcity of distribution data for the species.