First record of Terpios fugax Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864 (Demospongiae: Suberitidae) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean

Abstract

The brightly blue shallow water species Terpios fugax Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864 was originally described from the Caribbean and has been extensively recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, but rarely found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In the Pacific Ocean it has been only reported from Sulawesi, Indonesia and from the Caroline and Marshall Islands. Here we report the first record of Terpios in the Eastern Pacific, based on the presence of T. fugax at Caldera, Región de Atacama, northern Chile. Although this species may have been inadvertently introduced to the area by human activity, it should also be considered that the geographically distant populations of this sponge (from the Caribbean to the Eastern Pacific) may represent different species