The family Diodontidae is widely distributed in tropical waters and has around 75-recorded species, making it very frequent taxa in different marine ecosystems (^{Leis, 2006}). The family comprises the genus Chilomycterus, which includes a group of fishes widely distributed in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific oceans (^{Garrido et al., 2014}) and in tropical waters (Acero and Polanco, 2006). In the Americas, a total of five species of this genus are recorded, which are presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Species of the genus Chilomycterus recorded in the Americas 

The table above shows a lack of additional sighting records for C. spinosus, and suggests that its distribution and abundance are generally limited or have not yet been fully evaluated in the country. A new sighting of an individual of this species was recorded in Taganga Bay, Magdalena Department, Colombian Caribbean (Fig 1.). This area, with an approximate area of 3.2 km², has a great diversity of marine fauna distributed in different coastal marine ecosystems such as the rocky coastline, seagrass meadows, coral reef, soft bottoms, sandy beaches, neritic zone, pelagic environment, among others (Salazar et al., 2020). The sighting was recorded on August 31, 2022, at a depth of about 4 m, in an area characterized by a dominance of crustose corals (such as Pseudodiploria strigosa and P. clivosa), soft and sandy bottoms (with presence of octocorals). The individual was specifically observed at coordinates 11°15’48.9 " N 74°11’36.3 " W on a soft sandy bottom close to the rocky coastline.

Figure 1 Previous reports of C. spinosus for the Atlantic and Colombian Caribbean. The red spot shows this report. 

The specimen’s morphology (Figure. 2) is consistent with the documented characteristics of C. spinosus, as reported previously. This observation aligns with the findings of researchers such as ^{Figueiredo and Menezes (2000)}, ^{Sampaio and Nottingham (2008)}, ^{Robertson and Van Tassell (2019)}, and ^{Acosta-Chaparro et al. (2023)} with an absence of tiny black lines and dots along the body and fins, a spine length less than the orbital diameter, and the presence of three distinct spots above and below the pectoral fins, as well as below the dorsal fin. These characters differentiate it markedly from the other three species recorded in the country, allowing for visual identification of the individual. This is further facilitated by the distinctive markings of C. reticulatus, which exhibits large black dots along the entire body, C. antennatus, which has black dots and irregular spots, and finally, C. antillarum, which has a pattern of black lines as polygons.

Figura 2 Images of C. spinosus in Taganga Bay showing A) front view, B) close-up view, C) back view, and D) side view. 

The presence of a new record of this species in the country suggests the possibility of a wider distribution in the southwestern Caribbean, as well as in the Colombian continental caribbean, potentially extending to areas between the departments of Magdalena and La Guajira. In addition, the Magdalena and Taganga Bay record represents a new finding for the area. According to the work of Salazar et al. (2020), previous studies have documented the presence of 28 species of fish belonging to diverse feeding group (Polanco et al., 2016). This recent discovery marks the first documented record of the genus Chilomycterus in the area. Conversely, its occurrence near to the rocky coast suggests that its habitat may exhibit greater variability, especially compared to the findings of ^{Robertson and Van Tassell (2019)}, who reported its association with reef environments, and those of ^{Acosta-Chaparro et al. (2023)}, who noted its association with seagrass meadows. This recent record constitutes a significant addition to the nation’s biodiversity, particularly in the Magdalena department within the Colombian Caribbean region.