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New Records of Fish Species from the Coast of Luanda, Angola

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Abstract

The coastal waters of Angola support a rich and diverse fauna. However, the ichthyofauna of the region is poorly known; the only fish species studied in detail are those with commercial importance. The main objective of the present study is to report the presence of several fish species for the first time from the coast of Angola. The records were made during a survey in the coastal area of Luanda Island. Species were identified based on photographs taken during SCUBA diving surveys. In the present study, we report for the first time the occurrence of seven fish species in the Angolan region, belonging to six families: Pomacanthidae (Guinean angelfish Holacanthus africanus), Pomacentridae (African sergeant Abudefduf hoefleri), Labridae (Guinean rainbow wrasse Coris atlantica and Newton’s wrasse Thalassoma newtoni), Scaridae (Guinean parrotfish Scarus hoefleri), Blenniidae (oyster blenny Hypleurochilus aequipinnis), and Tetraodontidae (sharpnose-puffer Canthigaster capistrata). These records from Luanda Island are the southernmost known for the species reported here.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the colleague João Saraiva (ESTM – Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, Peniche, Portugal) and Octopus Actividades Náuticas (Luanda, Angola) for help during the dives. This study received Portuguese national funds from FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology through project UIDB/04326/2020, and the project LuandaWaterFront – “Luanda Bay Ecological Assessment: A waterfront based approach to reduce environmental risks and increase quality of life” (333191101) supported by Aga Khan, Network for Development and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. João Encarnação has a Ph.D. scholarship funded by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (SFRH/BD/140556/2018).

Funding

This study received Portuguese national funds from FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology through project UIDB/04326/2020, and the project LuandaWaterFront – “Luanda Bay Ecological Assessment: A waterfront based approach to reduce environmental risks and increase quality of life” (333191101) supported by Aga Khan, Network for Development and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. João Encarnação has a PhD a scholarship funded by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/140556/2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CCMAR – Centro de Ciências do Mar, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal

    Vânia Baptista, João Encarnação, Ester A. Serrão, Peter Wirtz & Maria Alexandra Teodósio

  2. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade Agostinho Neto, Avenida 4 de Fevereiro, 71, 4° andar, Luanda, Angola

    Lueji Barros Pestana

  3. INIPM – Instituto Nacional de Investigação Pesqueira e Marinha, Rua Mortala Mohamed, Ilha de Luanda, Luanda, Angola

    Silvana Faria

Authors
  1. Vânia Baptista
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  2. João Encarnação
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  3. Ester A. Serrão
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  4. Peter Wirtz
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  5. Lueji Barros Pestana
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  6. Silvana Faria
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  7. Maria Alexandra Teodósio
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Contributions

V.B. and M.A.T conceived the study idea; V.B., J.E., E.S., L.B.P., and M.A.T. participated in fieldwork and collected the specimens; V.B. prepared the manuscript with contribution from all authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vânia Baptista.

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Ethics Approval

All the study was conducted in accordance with the Guidelines of the Angolan legislation for the use of animals: Law on Aquatic Biological Resources (Law No. 6-A /04, 8 October) and Regulation of Scientific Research on Angolan Aquatic Biological Resources and the Continental Shelf of Angola (Decree 38/05, 3 June). CCMAR team members are certified to house and conduct experiments with live animals, and their facilities are also certified in accordance with the three “R” policy, national and European legislation, and with guidelines defined by the ethical committee ORBEA CCMAR-CBMR. However, in the present work, the species were identified from photographs taken during SCUBA diving surveys.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Baptista, V., Encarnação, J., Serrão, E.A. et al. New Records of Fish Species from the Coast of Luanda, Angola. Thalassas 37, 803–811 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-021-00297-1

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