TEN NEW RECORDS OF MARINE FISHES FOR SÃO TOMÉ , WEST AFRICA

Three chondrichthyes: Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828; Mobula tarapacana (Philippi, 1892); and Mobula thurstoni (Lloyd, 1908), and seven teleosts: Beryx decadactylus Cuvier, 1829; Peristedion cf. cataphractum (Linnaeus, 1758); Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758; Liopropoma emanueli Wirtz et Schliewen, 2012; Chromis cadenati Whitley, 1951; Chromis limbata (Valenciennes, 1833); and Makaira nigricans Lacepède, 1802 were recorded for the fi rst time for São Tomé. These records were based on fi shes landed in local markets, captured, or observed while SCUBA diving and from BRUV surveys.

The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is a group of two islands in the Gulf of Guinea (western Africa), lying between the Equator line and 1º42N (Fig. 1).São Tomé, the largest island, is located about 250 km west off mainland Africa.Despite being considered a marine biodiversity hotspot (Roberts et al. 2002), the marine fauna of the Gulf of Guinea is understudied when compared to other regions at similar latitudes.
Since the work of the Portuguese scientist Osório, late in the 19th century, very few studies have addressed the costal biodiversity from São Tomé e Príncipe (STP).Currently there are 234 reported marine fi sh species for the region (Afonso et al. 1999, Wirtz et al. 2007).
During an expedition to São Tomé Island, in November 2015, aiming to document costal ichthyofaunal diversity, the authors of the presently reported study recorded unreported marine fi sh species for the region.These new records result from approximately ten hours of sampling in local markets and fi sheries landing sites in São Tomé island, 52 hours of SCUBA diving (46 hours in Rolas Islet (an islet south of São Tomé), fi ve hours in Lagoa Azul, in São Tomé island, and one hour in Santana islet) and 7 hours surveys with a Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) system.Recent reports by local collaborators were also included whenever they could be verifi ed and supported by photographic evidence.Families are listed according to Nelson et al. (2016) and mobulas identifi cation was based on Notarbartolo-di-Sciara (1987).
The world's largest fi sh, feeds on plankton and can grow up to at least 12 m, perhaps up to 18 m (Colman 1997, Eckert andStuart 2001).Whale sharks are circumglobal in all tropical and warm temperate seas, oceanic and coastal except the Mediterranean (Compagno 2001), but to date, this species had not been reported for STP.Seasonal feeding aggregations of larger numbers (tens, to low hundreds) are recorded from many areas in the African continent such as Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Somalia (Norman 2005), but so far, none for the West African coast.The whale shark is listed as Endangered (EN) by IUCN (Pierce and Norman 2016).
Family MOBULIDAE Genus Mobula Rafi nesque, 1810 Mobula tarapacana (Philippi, 1892) One specimen with approximately 180 cm wingspan was seen and photographed in a restaurant (Fig. 2B), in São Tomé city.Two other individuals were recorded NW off Rolas Islet, free swimming in the water column at 30 m deep, in May 2015.The animals were observed over the top of an underwater cliff, which raises from more than 300 to 80 m of depth.According to the dive instructor Relmison Ferreira (RF), the animals, with approximately 2 m wingspan, approached the diver from the bottom and circled him for more than 15 minutes.One month later, RF recorded another individual fl apping its fi ns at the surface during a fi shing trip to the same area.It remained at the surface for a few minutes before diving.The distribution of this species is circumglobal in temperate and tropical oceans with reports of its presence scattered across the Indian, Pacifi c and Atlantic Oceans (Compagno and Last 1999).In the North Atlantic, M. tarapacana is known to perform large scale seasonal migrations from their northern distribution limit, the Azores archipelago (Sobral and Afonso 2014), to the region of Cape Verde islands in West Africa (Thorrold et al. 2014), suggesting high degree of population connectivity, at least in the northeast Atlantic, possibly including the Gulf of Guinea.Mobula tarapacana is listed as Vulnerable (VU) by IUCN (Pardo et al. 2016).

Mobula thurstoni (Lloyd, 1908)
One individual with approximately 140 cm wingspan was photographed in a restaurant (Fig. 2C), in São Tomé city, in February 2016.It was an immature male and was caught by a local fi shermen off São Tomé city.This species is pelagic but more common near the coast (McEachran and Notarbartolo di Sciara 1995).Its geographic distribution is probably circumglobal in all temperate and tropical seas, but not completely defi ned.In the eastern Atlantic it has been reported for Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal (Clark et al. 2006) but not for STP.It is listed as Near Threatened (NT) by IUCN (Clark et al. 2006).
Family BERYCIDAE Genus Beryx Cuvier, 1829 Beryx decadactylus Cuvier, 1829 A single specimen of approximately 40 cm TL was documented in São Tomé market (Fig. 3A).According to local fi shermen and fi shmongers all fi sh sold in the market are fi shed locally and no fi sh imports are known.Despite its worldwide distribution (Maul 1990), this species had not been recorded in São Tomé before.Being a benthopelagic fi sh from the bottom of the upper slope, between 200 and 900 m depths (Maul 1990), it is not surprising that it has not been reported before since most fi sheries in São Tomé are costal or pelagic and previous publications focused only on coastal fi sh (Afonso et al.1999, Wirtz et al. 2007) and possibly did not consider Beryx spp.even though it may had been previously observed.
Family PERISTEDIIDAE Genus Peristedion Lacepède, 1801 Peristedion cf.cataphractum (Linnaeus, 1758) While analysing the stomach content of the aforementioned B. decadactylus, one individual with approximately 8 cm TL was found (Fig. 3B).This species known to occur in the eastern Atlantic, from the British Isles to Angola, including the Mediterranean, in depths between 50 and 600 m (Miller and Richards 1990).Given the likely fi shing gear (hand lines) negative selectivity of this small fi sh, the depth limits of local artisanal fi shing and the fact that this is not a commercial species in São Tomé, it is not surprising that it had never been reported for São Tomé before.

Family CORYPHAENIDAE Genus Coryphaena Linnaeus, 1758
Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758 Three specimens were recorded and one was photographed (Fig. 3C) and sampled during an artisanal fi shing landing in Rolas Islet.Wirtz et al. (2007) recorded Coryphaena equiselis Linnaeus, 1758 for São Tomé but not C. hippurus.Considering dolphinfi sh is a circumtropical ocean pelagic species and widely important as a commercial fi sh (Oxenford 1999) it is somehow surprising that it had not been recorded for São Tomé in previous studies.The low sampling effort for this region, associated with possible seasonal fl uctuations in abundance of this species might explain the inexistence of previous reports.

Family POMACENTRIDAE Genus Chromis Cuvier, 1814 Chromis cadenati Whitley, 1951
While exploring deep water rocky reefs between 90 and 100 m NW Rolas Island using a BRUV we documented a school with more than 15 Chromis cadenati, with approximately 15 cm TL (Fig. 3E).This damselfi sh was previously reported for Senegal, Guinea, Liberia and Ghana from depths between 20 and 60 m (Wirtz 2012, Rocha andMyers 2015).This new record expands not only its geographic distribution, but it is also the deepest observation of any damselfi sh, which are typically common on coral and rocky reefs, but also in other shallow-water habitats including sand and rubble patches, silty embayments, harbours, and seagrass beds (Allen 1991).

Chromis limbata (Valenciennes, 1833)
Various individuals were recorded in two dives in São Miguel (0°07′49.76′′N,6°28′41.57′′E) at depths between 32 and 40 m.Observed individuals ranged in size from 3 to 12 cm TL (Fig. 3F) and all were swimming close to the bottom in the same type of habitat as described for Liopropoma emanueli.Known as the Azores Chromis, C. limbata was once believed to be restricted to the Macaronesian Islands (Azores, Madeira, and Canaries) and the western coast of Africa (between Senegal and Congo) (Wood 1977, Edwards 1986, Rocha et al. 2008).It has, however, been reported for areas far from its originally known occurrence, such as South Brazil (Leite et al. 2009) and as far as Luanda (Angola) (Patrícia De Brito, personal communication) (Fig. 3G), which is its new southernmost record for the eastern Atlantic.
Despite the currently known wide (and possible spreading) distribution, this represents the fi rst record of this species for an African island.In either case, the mechanisms that have allowed these wide range expansions remain obscure.Given the scarcity of studies in this region, we have to consider both the possibility that this population derived from a recent colonization, potentially originating from the Macaronesia, or an ancient relict population.
Family ISTIOPHORIDAE Genus Makaira Lacepède, 1802 Makaira nigricans Lacepède, 1802 One specimen of blue marlin was recorded in this study, while an artisanal fi sherman was landing his catch in Rolas Islet (Fig. 3H).This species occurs in tropical and temperate Atlantic waters (Nakamura 1985).Previously unreported, the presence of this species in São Tomé may be explained by the same reasons as for Coryphaena hippurus, i.e., a low sampling effort, although it is occasionally seen in local fi sh markets around the island.
These new records for São Tomé are not surprising given the tropical/sub-tropical affi nities of most species.Despite wider latitudinal distributions of Beryx decadactylus and Peristedion cf.cataphractum-both also occur in temperate and cold high latitude waters (Maul 1990, Wheeler 1992)-these two species are not considered coastal, and have not been addressed in previous studies.
Our report of Rhincodon typus, Mobula tarapacana, and Mobula thurstoni, all pelagic and migratory species, further stresses the absence/rarity of elasmobranchs in São Tomé, possibly due overexploitation and consequent population decline.Photographic records from 2015 and 2016 and comments from local fi shermen and restaurant owners are evidence that devil rays are marketed in STP.In some Asian markets (e.g., Indonesia), its gill rakers can reach a high value and the fl esh is used for human consumption (Clark et al. 2006).As far as we were informed, in São Tomé there is not a market for gill rakers, either local or export but, according to local restaurant owners and fi shermen, devil rays are locally caught occasionally and sold commercially for food.
In approximately 52 hours of underwater observations, between 1 and 47 m depth, and besides the Whale shark, we only recorded one elasmobranch, Myliobatis sp., in a deep reef, which swam away when approached.Even in our visits to local markets and fi sheries landing sites no elasmobranchs were observed.One of the authors (NV-R) reported that Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre, 1788) was a common shark in shallow areas in 2005.
During our study, we also reported the presence of Uropterygius wheeleri Blache, 1967.One individual was observed on a rocky vertical wall, at approximately 6 m depth, during a night dive, in Baía Chinha (0º00′17.54′′S,6º31′42.47′′E),Rolas Islet.Since the animal was inside a crevice, except for the head (Fig. 4), total length estimation was not possible.This species had been reported by Osório (1891Osório ( , 1898) ) but the most recent papers dedicated to updates on fi sh species for São Tomé, namely Afonso et al. (1999) and Wirtz et al. (2007) did not give U. wheeleri as a valid species.This report confi rms its presence in São Tomé.
Although STP has a rich ichthyofauna (yet understudied), symptoms of overfi shing are clear, such as: • The lack of top predators, mainly sharks and large groupers, with only a few large Lutjanids occasionally observed-Lutjanus dentatus (Duméril, 1861) and Lutjanus agennes Bleeker, 1863; • The presence of fi shing net debris in the reefs; • Signs of gear impact on the sea fl oor (e.g.large broken gorgonians were frequently seen); • (Prevalence of small size fi shes, namely herbivores, such as parrotfi shes (Scarus and Sparisoma), in the local fi sh markets.
This scenario results from local small scale artisanal fi sheries alone, since large scale fi sheries (namely trawling) or use of explosives was not reported for the area.In light of these facts, conservation efforts in STP are deemed urgent.It is relevant to note that the local population is evenly dependent on fi sh protein.Out of 30 meals present to the authors at the Rolas village (only one native food serving establishment exists) only three where non fi sh protein.Conservation efforts such the establishment of marine protected areas would probably benefi t from the introduction of alternative affordable protein source in order to preserve the richness and uniqueness of the local marine fauna and the sustainability of artisanal fi shing.
With these new records, the number of known valid species for São Tomé and Príncipe increases to a total of 245.A more intense sampling effort including (1) regular surveys to local markets and fi sheries landing sites in São Tomé, but also in Príncipe island, (2) sampling of deeper water habitats, usually inaccessible by recreational scuba diving, and using techniques that allow effective sampling, will potentially increase the number of species for this rich and important area of the tropical east Atlantic.Costa Norte for logistics with dives and accommodation in Ilhéu das Rolas.Also Patrícia de Brito for the contacts provided and useful information regarding diving in Angola.João Câmara and Lúcia Dias for the hospitality, friendship, help and accommodation in São Tomé.Paulo Pichel, Hugo Lagos and Carlos Araújo for the pictures of R. typus, M. tarapacana and C. limbata respectively.Ana Filipa Sobral and Alberto Brito for the help given in the identifi cation of M. thurstoni and U. wheeleri respectively.Ronald Fricke for the help with identifi cation of various specimens and Peter Wirtz for the help with identifi cation of various specimens, valuable comments and suggestions to the manuscript and enthusiastic support.NV-R benefi ted from an European Union of Aquarium Curators grant, JF was funded by MARE, ÁAB benefi ts from a scholarship PNPD/CAPES.