Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 May 2011
Here we report the second and third known specimens of Cephalopholis fulva with partial melanic coloration, photographed at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and Camamu Bay, south-western Atlantic. While the species exhibits a wide range of colorations, the melanic pattern is an aberration only recently reported. Since C. fulva is common within its area of distribution and is of importance to fisheries, increasing records of melanism can either result from higher frequency than previously thought or, alternatively, that this condition is becoming more common.