The family Diodontidae, with 75 reported species (^{Leis, 2006}). is widely distributed in tropical waters, having a relatively common presence in different marine ecosystems. The genus Chilomycterus is a group of fishes widely distributed in the tropical Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans (^{Acero and Polanco, 2006}; ^{Garrido et al., 2014}). Three species of this genus have been reported from Colombia, of which Chilomycterus antennatus (Cuvier) and C. antillarum (Jordan & Rutter) are found in the Caribbean, while C. reticulatus (Linnaeus) can be found in both Caribbean and Pacific (^{Acero and Garzón, 1987}; ^{Rubio, 1987}; ^{Medina et al., 2001}). The presence of the brown burrfish, Chilomycterus spinosus (Linnaeus, 1758), in Colombia has not been fully confirmed previously, considering that the only official record corresponds to one made in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) by the Florida Museum of Natural History (^{Robins, 2023}), with a specimen registered in 1970 towards the border area between Colombia and Panama (Punta Caribaná).

On August the 19th, 2022, one individual of the brown burrfish was sighted in Portete Bay, Colombian Caribbean (12° 9’ 42.04” N-71° 56’ 37.86” W). This place, located at the north of La Guajira department, is a shallow bay, with an average depth of 9 m, presenting high salinity due to the scarce runoff (^{Gutiérrez-Moreno et al., 2008}). On the coast there is a wide presence of mangrove forests and seagrass meadows (^{Díaz et al., 2003}), while the coral formations are limited to the southwestern side of the bay, at about 4 m deep (^{Solano, 1994}; Gutiérrez-Moreno et al., 2008). The reported individual was found in the southern area of ​​the bay, in a spot dominated mainly by seagrass meadows, at an approximate depth of 1.5 m (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Distribution of C. spinosus; the circles correspond to the sightings reported previously, the triangle correspond to the new one in Portete Bay, Colombian Caribbean (Labsis-Invemar, 2023). 

The coloration pattern of the reported specimen (Figure 2) correspond to the literature information for C. spinosus, presenting an absence of lines and black dots along the body and fins, length of spines less than the orbital diameter, and presence of three defined spots above and below the pectoral fins as well as below the dorsal fin (^{Figueiredo and Menezes, 2000}; ^{Sampaio and Nottingham, 2008}). These characters clearly differentiate it from the other species reported in the area and allow a visual identification of the individual.

Figure 2 Images of C. spinosus in ​​La Guajira, Colombian Caribbean, being a) lateral view where the typical spots of the species are evident, b) top view, and c) inflated body of the individual with pale spots. 

On the other hand, the depth where the specimen was found (1.5 m) differs from reports by ^{Figueiredo and Menezes (2000)}, where a range between 70 and 190 m depth is mentioned. Other authors, such as ^{Robertson and Van Tassell (2019)}, describe a range from 0 to 200 m, similar to the data from ^{Santos et al. (2015)} and ^{Pereira et al. (2019)}, where individuals of C. spinosus were captured in estuaries near the coast of Brazil, at depths close to 5 m. These data show a variation in the depth range of the species and reflect a presence of this organism in shallower waters. The confirmation of the presence of this species, represents a contribution to the country’s fish diversity, as well as an expansion of its distribution to the southwestern Caribbean.