August the 8th, 2024 – A Monrovia Doctorfish (Acanthurus monroviae), has been sighted for the very first time in Croatian waters near Rijeka.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, a fish has appeared in watered around Rijeka that has never been seen in this country before, according to the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. It is a Monrovia Doctorfish (Acanthurus monroviae), which normally lives deep in the Atlantic Ocean, living in a range that extends from southern Morocco to Angola.
Dory from the hit Pixar film Finding Nemo also belongs to the same wider family of surgeonfish. Its species is called a blue tang. Quite unlike the Monrovia Doctorfish sighted in the waters around Rijeka (more specifically around Kostrena), the blue tang lives in the Indian Ocean and is important for the upkeep of coral reef ecosystems.
“There have been several sightings of Monrovia Doctorfish in the waters around Rijeka, more specifically near Kostrena. Of course, we cannot yet draw any conclusions as to how these fish found themselves in the vicinity of Rijeka, at the moment we can only say that there’s a fish swimming in Croatian waters that has never been seen in it before.
Members of the wider surgeonfish family feed mainly on marine plants, but sometimes also eat small invertebrates. They can grow up to 45 cm in length. If you happen to see a Monrovia Doctorfish, please let us know, and if you find it in your catch, please save it for further analysis, it would be of great use to us”, they appealed from the aforementioned Institute.
