Article: First Occurrence of Blackspot Wrasse, Decodon melasma Gomon 1974 (Pisces: Labridae) in California.

M. James Allen (1)

Ami K. Groce (2)

Wrasses (family Labridae) are epibenthic, demersal, and water-column fishes found in coastal warm-temperate and tropical waters, usually near rocky and coral reefs of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Although this is the second largest family of marine fishes (Nelson 1994), only three species have been reported from California: rock wrasse, Halichoeres semicinctus; Senorita, Oxyjulis californica; and California sheephead, Semicossyphus pulcher (Hubbs et al. 1979; Eschmeyer et al. 1983). This paper reports the first occurrences of a fourth species of wrasse in California.

Following the 1997-1998 El ...

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