Now you see me: “first” records of the greater amberjack Seriola dumerili at Rapa Nui range extension or increased scientific effort?

Abstract

We report new records of the fisheries‐harvested subtropical greater amberjack Seriola dumerili for the south‐east Pacific Ocean. Despite local fishers' asserting that three Seriola morphotypes exist in the region, only one species (the yellowtail amberjack Seriola lalandi ) was previously scientifically recorded for Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island). Whilst we present the first “scientific record”, S. dumerili , traditional ecological knowledge suggests that this is likely a pre‐existing (albeit transient) species of the Rapa Nui ecoregion. Establishing the existing/historic distributional limits of commercially and ecologically valuable species is key for observing climate‐driven distribution shifts, and the inclusion of traditional ecological knowledge is particularly important in areas with relatively lower scientific effort.

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