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The first validated record of Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775) (Perciformes: Serranidae) from Syrian marine waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2023

Mohamad Hassan Open the ORCID record for Mohamad Hassan [Opens in a new window]  and
Alaa Alchikh Ahmad
Mohamad Hassan*
Affiliation:
Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria MARBEC, Université Montpellier, Ifremer, IRD, CNRS, Sète, France
Alaa Alchikh Ahmad
Affiliation:
Coastal Area Branch, General Authority for Fisheries and Aquatic Organisms, Tartous, Syria
*
Corresponding author: Mohamad Hassan; Email: mohamad30169@gmail.com
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Abstract

Here, we report the first validated record of the non-indigenous grouper species Epinephelus areolatus (Perciformes: Serranidae) along the Mediterranean coast of Syria. A single specimen of E. areolatus (Forsskål, 1775), was found on 29 September 2021 during a recurrent ichthyological survey, in a rocky habitat from the Mediterranean coast of Syria. This represents the first confirmed record of this species, native to the Red Sea, for the Syrian waters and the fourth for the Mediterranean Sea. The present record fills the gap with species distribution along the eastern Mediterranean and provides further evidence that the environmental alterations due to the combination of human activities and climate change render the Mediterranean waters increasingly likely to accommodate tropical species, possibly at the expense of the native ones.

Keywords

Epinephelus areolatusfirst recordLessepsian fishSyriaSyrian marine waters
Type
Marine Record
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 103 , 2023 , e93
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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