Ten years later: An update on the status of collections of endemic Gulf of Mexico fishes put at risk by the 2010 Oil Spill

The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon was the largest spill in human history that occurred during a 12- week period over ten years ago; however, after more than a decade of post-spill research little definitive remains known about the long-term impacts on the development and distribution of fishes in and around the region of the disaster. Here we examine endemic Gulf of Mexico fish species that may have been most affected by noting their past distributions in the region of the spill and examining data of known collecting events over the last twenty years (ten years prior to the spill, ten years post spill). In addition some observational data that did not result in specimen collections are also examined here. Five years post spill, it was reported that 48 of the Gulf’s endemic fish species had not been collected, with expanded methods we now report that 29 (of the 78 endemic species) have not been reported in collections since 2010 (five of these are only known from observations post-spill). Although there is some cause to celebrate the good news that some previously ‘missing’ species have been found, the lack of information for many species remains a cause for concern.