ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 30 · 2020 · 2 223 received: 2020-07-10 DOI 10.19233/ASHN.2020.26 OCCURRENCE OF SCARUS GHOBBAN (SCARIDAE) AT THE BORDER OF THE AEGEAN SEA (KAŞ, TURKEY) İnci TÜNEY-KIZILKAYA Ege University Faculty of Science, 35100 Bornova, İzmir, Turkey Okan AKYOL Ege University Faculty of Fisheries, 35440 Urla, İzmir, Turkey; e-mail: okan.akyol@ege.edu.tr ABSTRACT A single specimen of Scarus ghobban was caught on 5 May 2020 by a trammel net in the shallows off Cape Uluburun, southeast of Kaş, at a depth of 35 m. This ichthyological note is the second north-westernmost report of S. ghobban in the Levantine Sea since its recording at Kastellorizo, an island located close to Cape Uluburun. Only twelve records of S. ghobban since 2001 suggest that this species is still rare in the Mediterranean. Key words: Scaridae, north-westernmost record, Cape Uluburun, Mediterranean Sea PRESENZA DI SCARUS GHOBBAN (SCARIDAE) AL CONFINE DEL MAR EGEO (KAŞ, TURCHIA) SINTESI Un esemplare di Scarus ghobban è stato catturato il 5 maggio 2020 da un tramaglio nelle secche al largo di Capo Uluburun, a sud-est di Kaş, ad una profondità di 35 m. Questa nota ittiologica rappresenta il secondo avvi- stamento di S. ghobban più a nord-ovest nel Mar Levantino dalla sua segnalazione a Kastellorizo, un’isola situata vicino a Capo Uluburun. Dal 2001 sono stati riportati solo dodici avvistamenti di S. ghobban, il che suggerisce che questa specie sia ancora rara nel Mediterraneo. Parole chiave: Scaridae, record a nord-ovest, Capo Uluburun, Mediterraneo ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 30 · 2020 · 2 224 İnci TÜNEY-KIZILKAYA & Okan AKYOL : OCCURRENCE OF SCARUS GHOBBAN (SCARIDAE) AT THE BORDER OF THE AEGEAN SEA (KAŞ, TURKEY), 223–226 INTRODUCTION The Scaridae family (parrotfishes) consists of 83 species. Two of them are also present in the Medi- terranean, one being a Lessepsian migrant (Golani et al., 2006). Scarus ghobban Forsskål, 1775 entered the Mediterranean from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal (Golani et al., 2006). Initially, only a few specimens were reported off Israeli and Lebanese coasts (Golani et al., 2006). The species is widely distributed over the Indo-Pacific region (Golani et al., 2006), including the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and Algoa Bay, South Africa, southern Japan, and other regions, such as the New South Wales, Gulf of California, Ecuador, and Eastern Mediterranean (Froese & Pauly, 2019). Since the first record of S. ghobban in the Medi- terranean Sea in 2001, from the Shiqmona coast, Israel (Goren &Aronov, 2002), the fish has expanded its range from Beirut, Lebanon (Bariche & Saad, 2008), to Kastellorizo Island, which is close to the location of the present study (Apostolopoulos & Karachle, 2016). The successive records are shown in Figure 1. This ichthyo- logical note presents the second north-westernmost record of S. ghobban in the Levantine Sea. Fig. 1: Successive records of Scarus ghobban from the Mediterranean Sea: (1) 20 Oct. 2001, Shiqmona, Israel (Goren & Aranov, 2002), (2) 20 Sept. 2004, Shiqmona, Israel (Golani & Levy, 2005), (3) 9 Nov. 2004, Beirut, Lebanon (Bariche & Saad, 2008), (4) 7 Feb. 2010, Zygi, Cyprus (Ioannou et al., 2010), (5) 20 July 2013, Iskele City, Northern Cyprus (Filiz & Sevingel, 2014), (6) 6 Aug. 2013, Keldag coast, Iskenderun Bay (Turan et al., 2014), (7) Sept. 2014, Kastellorizo Island, Greece (Apostolopoulos & Karachle, 2016), (8) July 2012 - Aug. 2016, Tartus, Syria (Soliman et al., 2018), (9) 20 Dec. 2015, Yeşilovacık Bay, Mersin (Yaglıoglu & Ayas, 2016), (10) 24 Dec. 2016, Gazipaşa, Antalya (Ergüden et al., 2018), (11) 22 Dec. 2018, Mina Hasheesh Beach, Egypt (Al Mabruk et al., 2020), (12) 5 May 2020, present study. Sl. 1: Zapisi o pojavljanju vrste Scarus ghobban v Sredozemskem morju: (1) 20. okt. 2001, Shiqmona, Izrael (Goren & Aranov, 2002), (2) 20. sept. 2004, Shiqmona, Izrael (Golani & Levy, 2005), (3) 9. nov. 2004, Bejrut, Libanon (Bariche & Saad, 2008), (4) 7. feb. 2010, Zygi, Ciper (Ioannou et al., 2010), (5) 20. jul. 2013, Iskele City, severni Ciper (Filiz & Sevingel, 2014), (6) 6. avg. 2013, obala Keldag, Zaliv Iskenderun (Turan et al., 2014), (7) sept. 2014, otok Kastellorizo, Grčija (Apostolopoulos & Karachle, 2016), (8) julij 2012 - avg. 2016, Tartus, Sirija (Soliman et al., 2018), (9) 20. dec. 2015, zaliv Yeşilovacık, Mersin (Yaglıoglu & Ayas, 2016), (10) 24. dec. 2016, Gazipaşa, Antalya (Ergüden et al., 2018), (11) 22. dec. 2018, plaža Mina Hasheesh, Egipt (Al Mabruk et al., 2020), (12) 5. maj 2020, pričujoče delo. ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 30 · 2020 · 2 225 İnci TÜNEY-KIZILKAYA & Okan AKYOL : OCCURRENCE OF SCARUS GHOBBAN (SCARIDAE) AT THE BORDER OF THE AEGEAN SEA (KAŞ, TURKEY), 223–226 MATERIAL AND METHODS On 5 May 2020, one specimen of Scarus ghobban was caught by a trammel net in the shallows off Cape Uluburun, Kaş (lat. 36°08.130 N, long. 29°40.394 E, Fig. 1), on the south-western coast of Turkey, at a depth of 35 m. The sample (Fig. 2), fixed in a 6% formaldehyde solution, has been preserved in the fish collection of the Fisheries Faculty, Ege University (ESFM-PIS/2020-01). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The morphological description, colour, morpho- metric measurements with percentages of total length and meristic counts, as presented in Table 1, are in agreement with Golani et al. (2006), Froese & Pauly (2019), Ergüden et al. (2018). Two distinctive features of S. ghobban are its teeth, in both jaws fused to form dental plates with a median suture, and three rows of scales on the cheek. Scarus ghobban inhabits rocky habitats in shallow waters and feeds on the algae it scrapes off rocks and corals (Golani et al., 2006; Froese & Pauly, 2019). S. ghobban is usually found in shallow waters at depths of 1-100 m (see Ergüden et al., 2018 and references therein) along the eastern Mediterranean. In this study, the specimen was captured in the shallows off Cape Uluburun. It is not known yet how S. ghobban crosses Cyprus, but ships could be a possible vector. Finally, it seems that S. ghobban is still rare in the Mediterranean, as only twelve intermittent records in various sites in the eastern Mediterranean have been reported since 2001. Seeing that this Lessepsian fish has settled only 100 km away from the Aegean Sea, we expect it will shortly occur in that area as well. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank fisherman M. Aydın for bringing the fish to our attention, and also, Mediterranean Conservation Society for their support. Fig. 2: Scarus ghobban, captured off Cape Uluburun, Kaş, Turkey (Scale bar: 50 mm). Sl. 2: Scarus ghobban, ujet pri rtu Uluburun, Kaş, Turčija (Merilo: 50 mm). Tab. 1: Morphometric measurements as percentages of total length and meristic counts recorded in the Scarus ghobban captured off Cape Uluburun, Kaş, Turkey. Tab. 1: Morfometrične meritve, izražene kot delež celo- tne dolžine telesa, in meristična štetja pri primerku vrste Scarus ghobban, ujetem pri rtu Uluburun, Kaş, Turčija. Measurements Size (mm) Proportion (TL%) Total length (TL) 501 Standard length (SL) 412 82.2 Pre-dorsal fin length 138 27.5 Pre-anal fin length 248 49.5 Pre-pectoral fin length 115 22.9 Interorbitary length 48 9.6 Head length 130 25.9 Eye diameter 15 3.0 Preorbitary length 47 9.4 Meristic counts Dorsal fin rays IX-9 Anal fin rays III+9 Ventral fin rays I+5 Pectoral fin rays 15 Weight (g) 1830 ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 30 · 2020 · 2 226 İnci TÜNEY-KIZILKAYA & Okan AKYOL : OCCURRENCE OF SCARUS GHOBBAN (SCARIDAE) AT THE BORDER OF THE AEGEAN SEA (KAŞ, TURKEY), 223–226 POJAVLJANJE MODROPROGASTE MORSKE PAPIGE (SCARIDAE) NA MEJI EGEJSKEGA MORJA (KAŞ, TURKEY) İnci TÜNEY-KIZILKAYA Ege University Faculty of Science, 35100 Bornova, İzmir, Turkey Okan AKYOL Ege University Faculty of Fisheries, 35440 Urla, İzmir, Turkey; e-mail: okan.akyol@ege.edu.tr POVZETEK Primerek modroprogaste papige, Scarus ghobban, je bil ujet 5. maja 2020 v trislojno mrežo v plitvinah rta Ulu- burun, jugovzhodno od Kasa, na globini 35 m. 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