I wrote about these bicolor goatfish (Parupeneus baberinoides) in April (see original post).
They are gone.
This species has a recorded northern limit of something around 26.3ºN.
They appeared at a location of 31.6ºN several years ago (about 550km distance), and reproduced in earnest. By 2024, there were lots of baby goatfish around.
Friends and I had witnessed northern migration and colonisation in real time.
Or so we thought.
This species, along with several other types of fishes that seemed to have moved north during same period of time, has disappeared without a trace. No adults, no babies.
There was a brief period of unusually cold water earlier in the year, dipping down several degrees below normal. That might be a contributing factor. But in truth, the reason for the sudden sayonara is a mystery.
What I've learned is that de-migration can happen just as quickly as northern migration. Ecosystems are always in flux. Observations made at a given point in time may or may not hold true later, even when the temporal differential is short—like one year.
As sensible as this seems, it is still difficult to process such dramatic shifts in such short periods of time. My history with temperate waters is not long, so perhaps this has always been the way (hello Mandalorian fans). Though the fact that my friends who've dived the same area for nearly two decades are also surprised (at both the arrival and the disappearance of goats et al) suggests that such volatility might not be baseline.
The final sentence of my April post was: "I think it reasonable to conclude that this species has successfully extended its range (and might still be doing so)."
Doh.
Live and (hopefully) learn.