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
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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.
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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
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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. Ta ihtiološki zapis je po pojavu te vrste pri otoku Kastellorizo blizu 
rta Uluburun, drugi najbolj severozahodni zapis o pojavu vrste S. ghobban v Levantskem morju. Doslej je bilo 
zabeleženih 12 zapisov o pojavljanju te vrste v Sredozemskem morju, kar kaže na to, da je vrsta še vedno redka. 
Ključne besede: Scaridae, skrajni severozahodni zapis, Rt Uluburun, Sredozemsko morje
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