Increases in temperature have influenced the physiology, phenology, and geographic ranges of organisms and, with models predicting an additional increase of 2.4–6.4☌ over the next 100 years, is expected to continue. Our study provides an example of how species range expansions due to changing temperatures should result in new research priorities to evaluate impacts of climate change on coastal systems. The arrival of the snook in the northern Gulf of Mexico could affect food web ecology and habitat interactions among estuarine predators, and future studies should evaluate snook’s food habits and competitive interactions with resident fishes in this expanded range. The locations of nursery habitat and winter thermal refuges (e.g., freshwater springs) need to be identified and have implications for land-use policy and minimum-flow regulations for rivers. By 2018, snook of all sizes were found in the region, and we found strong evidence of local reproduction during 2016–2018.

The spatial and temporal expansion of the species began with adult fish in 2007. Using data from a long-term monitoring program, we report an increase in catches of snook in this area since 2007.

Cedar Key and the Lower Suwannee River are north of the snook’s historically documented range, likely due to lethal water temperatures during winter. The snook is an economically and recreationally important sport fish found from southern Brazil to south Florida. Our objectives were to quantify changing environmental conditions and the poleward expansion of the common snook Centropomus undecimalis into the Cedar Keys area of Florida, USA (29 deg N).

In the Gulf of Mexico, higher mean temperatures and less frequent winter freezes have led to the expansion of tropics-associated marine organisms. Globally, rising temperatures have resulted in numerous examples of poleward shifts in species distribution patterns with accompanying changes in community structure and ecosystem processes.

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