ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
177
Original scientific article              UDK 597.556.255:591.9(262.26)
Received: 2011-09-15
NEW RECORDS OF THE LESSEPSIAN MIGRANT, BLUESPOTTED 
CORNETFISH, FISTULARIA COMMERSONII (OSTEICHTHYES: 
FISTULARIDAE) OFF THE TUNISIAN COAST (CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN)
Sihem RAFRAFI-NOUIRA, Néjia MNASRI & Moncef BOUMAÏZA
Laboratoire d’Hydrobiologie Littorale et Limnique, Université du 07 novembre à Carthage, Faculté des Sciences, Zarzouna, 7021 
Bizerte, Tunisia
Christian REYNAUD & Christian CAPAPÉ
Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Didactique, l’Éducation et la Formation, E. A. 3749, case 77, Université Montpellier 
II, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France
E-mail: capape@univ-montp2.fr
ABSTRACT
Fourteen specimens of the bluespotted cornetfish Fistularia commersonii were recorded in Tunisian marine wa-
ters suggesting that the species should be at present considered as successfully established in the area. All specimens 
were caught off Ras Jebel, these captures constituting the northernmost extension range of the species off the Tuni-
sian coast. F. commersonii is a highly carnivorous species and its negative role in the biological environment cannot 
be neglected.
Key words: morphology, morphometric measurements, meristic counts, water warming
NUOVE SEGNALAZIONI DI PESCE FLAUTO, FISTULARIA COMMERSONII 
(OSTEICHTHYES: FISTULARIDAE), MIGRANTE LESSEPSIANO, AL LARGO DELLA COSTA 
DELLA TUNISIA (MEDITERRANEO CENTRALE)
SINTESI
Quattordici individui di Pesce Flauto, Fistularia commersonii, sono stati avvistati nelle acque marine della Tuni-
sia, il che fa ipotizzare che la specie si sia stabilita con successo nell’area. Tutti gli esemplari sono stati catturati al 
largo di Ras Jebel. Tali catture rappresentano il punto più settentrionale di estensione della specie al largo della costa 
tunisina. F. commersonii è una specie altamente carnivora ed il suo ruolo negativo nell’ambiente biologico non può 
venir trascurato.
Parole chiave: morfologia, misurazioni morfometriche, conteggi meristici, riscaldamento del mare
ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
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Sihem RAFRAFI-NOUIRA et al.: NEW RECORDS OF THE LESSEPSIAN MIGRANT, BLUESPOTTED CORNETFISH, FISTULARIA COMMERSONII ..., 177–182
INTRODUCTION
The bluespotted cornetfish Fistularia commersonii 
(Rüppel 1835) is a reef-associated species widely dis-
tributed in the Indo-Pacific, first recorded in the Medi-
terranean by Golani (2000). This new Lessepsian mi-
grant (sensu Por, 1978) quickly expanded in the eastern 
Mediterranean (Golani et al., 2002), and was classified 
by Karachle et al. (2004) as a “Lessepsian sprinter”. F. 
commersonii was first recorded in the central Mediter-
ranean by Azzurro et al. (2004) off Lampedusa Island, 
located 167 km from the eastern Tunisian coast, where 
it was further recorded by Ben Souissi et al. (2004) and 
Charfi-Cheikhronha (2004). The species migrated west-
ward and was reported in relative abundance off the Al-
gerian coast, between Tunisian and Moroccan borders 
(Hemida & Capapé, 2009). Additionally, F. commersonii 
was also reported in Libyan marine waters by Shakman 
& Kinzelbach (2007) and Elbaraasi & Elsalini (2009) 
who noted that the establishment of the species in the 
area still remains difficult to determine. Recent obser-
vations reported by Deidun & Germanà (2011) showed 
increasing numbers of records of F. commersonii in the 
central Mediterranean, especially within the coastal wa-
ters of Sicily and off the Maltese Islands.
Additionally, F. commersonii constitutes a threat for 
native ecosystem because it is both an active feeder 
and a highly carnivorous species which considerably 
increases competition pressure with autochthonous 
species, mainly teleosts (Kalogirou et al., 2007). Such 
pattern could have a double negative impact, firstly 
ecological and secondly economic; fistularid species 
having low selling prices as observed in western African 
fishmarkets (Diatta et al., 2009; Y. Diatta, pers. comm.).
The aim of this note is to present new additional 
records of bluespotted cornetfish during investigations 
conducted in northeastern Tunisian marine waters since 
June 2006 and to comment on the distribution extension 
of this Lessepsian migrant off the Tunisian coast and in 
the Mediterranean.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
All observed specimens were collected between 
30 October 2010 and 24 September 2011, off Ras Je-
bel (37°19’32.04” N, 10°13’35.18” E), a city located 
approximately 60 km north of Tunis, by commercial gill-
-nets with 30 mm mesh size, at a depth of 8m. The habi-
tat was a rocky bottom covered by algae, concomitantly 
with sparid and labrid species (Fig. 1).
All fresh specimens were identified following Gola-
ni (2000), Golani et al. (2002) and Hemida & Capapé 
(2009), and photographed. Morphometric measure-
ments were recorded to the nearest millimetre, while 
total mass, masses of liver and gonads to the nearest 
decigram. The genital tract of each specimen was first 
examined under binocular microscope. The stomach 
contents were removed, sorted and weighed to the ne-
arest decigram. The items were identified to the lowest 
Fig. 1: Map of Tunisia showing the capture sites of Fis-
tularia commersonii in the region. Black star: off Ras 
Jebel (this study); 1 - off Lampedusa Island (see Azzurro 
et al., 2004); 2 - off Zarzis; 3 - off Sfax; 4 - off Kelibia 
(see Ben Souissi et al., 2004); 5 - off Raf-Raf (see Charfi-
Cheikhronha, 2004).
Sl. 1: Zemljevid Tunizije z označenimi točkami ulova 
primerkov Fistularia commersonii. Črna zvezda: pri me-
stu Ras Jebel (to delo); 1 - ob otoku Lampeduza (glej 
Azzurro et al., 2004); 2 - pri mestu Zarzis; 3 - pri mestu 
Sfax; 4 - pri mestu Kelibia (glej Ben Souissi et al., 2004); 
5 - pri mestu Raf-Raf (glej Charfi-Cheikhronha, 2004).
Fig. 2: F. commersonii (ref. FSB-Fis-com 01) captured in 
Tunisian marine waters (scale bar 50 mm).
Sl. 2: F. commersonii (ref. FSB-Fis-com 01), ujeta v tuni-
zijskih vodah (merilo 50 mm).
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Sihem RAFRAFI-NOUIRA et al.: NEW RECORDS OF THE LESSEPSIAN MIGRANT, BLUESPOTTED CORNETFISH, FISTULARIA COMMERSONII ..., 177–182
possible taxon using keys and fields (Riedl, 1963; Perri-
er, 1964, 1975; Fischer et al., 1987).
All specimens were preserved in 10% buffered for-
malin and deposited in the Ichthyological Collection of 
the Faculté des Sciences of Bizerte (Tunisia), receiving 
catalogue numbers from FSB-Fis-com 01 (Fig. 2) to FSB-
-Fis-com 14.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The identification of the collected Fistularia commer-
sonii was made as follows: skin entirely smooth with lack 
of both bony plates along midline of back and of spines 
in ossifications of the posterior lateral line, and on the 
occurrence of strongly serrate ridges on both edges of 
snout; body extremely depressed with a narrow tubular 
snout; dorsal and anal fins similar and triangular, poste-
rior in position, opposite each other; caudal fin forked, 
with two very elongated and filamented middle rays. 
Colour brownish to olive-green with blue spots on the 
back. Belly beige, fins rather translucent and transparent 
at base, with orange cast. Morphometric measurements, 
meristic counts of two specimens are given in Table 1. 
They agree with the description and colour provided by 
Golani (2000), Golani et al. (2002) and Hemida & Ca-
papé (2009).
Of the 14 collected specimens, 12 were females 
and 2 males. All were large specimens ranging in size 
between 943 and 1074 mm total length, and weigh-
ing between 3516 and 6284 dg total mass. Of the 14 
guts examined, 7 were empty, the other 7 contained re-
mains of bony fishes. Namely, in four of them, we have 
identified bogue Boops boops (Linnaeus 1758), black 
goby Gobius niger (Linnaeus, 1758) and an unidentified 
sparid species (Tab. 2). These observations show that F. 
commersonii is a higher order carnivore, a piscivorous 
species in agreement with Kalogirou et al. (2007). All 
females exhibited a single ovary occupying the internal 
cavity of the body in its length and constituted in two 
fused lobes divided by a longitudinal septum of connec-
tive tissue in agreement with Azzuro et al. (2004); the 
ovary contained pre-vitellogenic oocytes. These females 
Reference FSB-Fis-com 01 FSB-Fis-com 02
Morphometric measurements mm % SL mm % SL
Total length without filaments 847 104.8 811 103.7
Total length including filaments 989 122.4 943 120.5
Standard length 808 100.0 782 100.0
Pre-dorsal fin length 673 83.3 650 83.1
Pre-pectoral fin length 302 37.3 284 36.3
Pre-anal fin length 673 83.3 647 82.7
Snout length 221 27.3 208 26.5
Longitudinal ocular diameter 23 2.8 21 2.6
Vertical ocular diameter 10 1.2 8 1.05
Dorsal fin length 26 3.5 27
Pectoral fin length 17 2.1 16 2.0
Anal fin length 29 3.6 26 3.3
Body height 25 3.0 22 2.8
Meristic counts
Dorsal soft fin rays 15 15
Pectoral soft fin rays 14 14
Anal soft fin rays 14 15
Caudal soft fin rays 16 16
Masses (g)
Total body 435.0 375.1
Eviscerated body 372.6 341.7
Liver 10.3 8.4
Ovary 4.2 2.4
Stomach content 9.4 6.3
Tab. 1: Morphometric measurements, in mm and percent of standard length (% SL), meristic counts and masses 
recorded in both specimens of Fistularia commersonii (ref. FSB-Fis-com 01 and FSB-Fis-com 02) captured in Tuni-
sian marine waters.
Tab. 1: Morfometrični podatki, v mm in odstotkih standardne dolžine (% SL), meristični podatki in mase, iz-
merjeno za oba primerka Fistularia commersonii (ref. FSB-Fis-com 01 in FSB-Fis-com 02), ujeta v tunizijskih vodah.
ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
180
were probably pre-spawning specimens. Both males ob-
served were immature specimens.
The relationship total length (TL) vs. total mass (TM) 
is plotted (Fig. 3):
TM (dg) = -14506.344 + 19.273 ´ TL (mm), n = 14, r 
= 0.93; it suggests that the species found sufficient food 
in the wild to develop.
The first record of F. commersonii in the central Med-
iterranean occurred on 20 December 2002 off Lampe-
dusa Island (Azzurro et al., 2004), the other specimens 
from the close Tunisian coast were collected on Novem-
ber 2002 off Zarzis, on October 2003 off Sfax and Kelib-
ia, respectively (Ben Souissi et al., 2004) and on January 
2004 off Raf-Raf (Charfi-Cheikhronha, 2004). The spe-
cies migrated westward and was recorded off the Alge-
rian coast (Hemida & Capapé, 2009), and reached at 
present the Moroccan border (F. Hemida, pers. comm.). 
Deidun & Germanà (2011) noted the abundance in the 
Malta-Sicily shelf area, adding that sighted specimens 
were from 300 to 1100 mm in total length, with some 
being sold at the Marsaxlokk fish market, which is con-
sidered a novelty for the Maltese Islands. These reports 
in related areas suggest that a subsequent F. commerso-
nii population is at present successfully established in 
the southern and central Mediterranean. Similar patterns 
were observed for three other teleost species in Tunisian 
waters, two lessepsian migrants Por’s goatfish Upeneus 
pori Ben-Tuvia & Golani 1989 (Ben Souissi et al., 2005; 
Azzouz et al., 2010) and reticulated leatherjack Stepha-
nolepis diaspros Fraser-Brünner 1940 (Ben Amor & Ca-
papé, 2008).
The occurrence of new exotic species in Tunisian 
waters and other Mediterranean regions is due to the 
warming of Mediterranean waters, which makes this 
sea a catchment area for species from southern marine 
world regions (Ben Raïs Lasram & Mouillot, 2009). F. 
commersonii could be considered as one of the best in-
stances among teleost species because since its first re-
Fig. 3: Relationship between total length (TL) and to-
tal mass (TM) in F. commersonii captured off Ras Jebel 
(northern Tunisia).
Sl. 3: Razmerje med celotno dolžino (TL) in celotno 
maso (TM) primerkov F. commersonii, ujetih pri kraju 
Ras Jebel (severna Tunizija).
Tab. 2: Observations recorded in the 13 F. commersonii captured off Ras Jebel (northern Tunisia) with total length 
(TL), total mass (TM), liver mass (LM) and gonad mass (GM).
Tab. 2: Podatki za 13 primerkov F. commersonii, ujetih pri kraju Ras Jebel (severna Tunizija) s celotno dolžino (TL), 
celotno maso (TM), maso jeter (LM) in maso gonad (GM).
Record Capture date Sex Condition TL(mm) TM (dg) LM (dg) GM (dg) Stomach contents
01 30/10/2010 female pre-spawning 989 4350 103 42 undetemined teleosts
02 28/11/2010 female pre-spawning 943 3751 84 24 undetemined teleosts
03 03/12/2010 female pre-spawning 1074 6284 115 70 empty
04 03/12/2010 female pre-spawning 994 4461 95 26 empty
05 06/12/2010 female pre-spawning 947 4400 106 68
Boops boops (6 dg), 
undetermined sparid
06 23/12/2010 female pre-spawning 1025 5623 91 47 B. boops (45 dg)
07 29/12/2010 male immature 945 3516 37 23 empty
08 09/01/2011 female pre-spawning 983 4586 73 35 Gobius niger (92 dg)
09 09/01/2011 female pre-spawning 1038 5218 89 45 empty
10 09/01/2011 female pre-spawning 962 3547 64 34 undetemined teleosts
11 30/01/2011 female pre-spawning 1060 6215 78 63 empty
12 30/01/2011 female pre-spawning 959 3907 64 31 empty
13 30/01/2011 female pre-spawning 1014 4624 - 42 empty
14 24/09/2011 male immature 960 4035 - 32 B. boops (11 dg)
Sihem RAFRAFI-NOUIRA et al.: NEW RECORDS OF THE LESSEPSIAN MIGRANT, BLUESPOTTED CORNETFISH, FISTULARIA COMMERSONII ..., 177–182
ANNALES · Ser. hist. nat. · 21 · 2011 · 2 
181
cord (Golani, 2000), it is known throughout the Mediter-
ranean Sea, and at present, it is abundantly captured in 
the eastern Mediterranean (Golani et al., 2002), the Ae-
gean Sea (Kalogirou et al., 2007) and in southern regions 
such as Maghreb shore; however, it is still unknown 
off the northern coast of Spain and southern coast of 
France. F. commersonii is a highly carnivorous species 
that considerably increases competition pressure with 
autochthonous species, mainly teleosts, which have 
high economic value (Kalogirou et al., 2007). Addition-
ally, F. commersonii, species of low economic value, 
feed on species of high economic value such as centra-
chantids, mullids and sparids (Kalogirou et al., 2007). 
Consequently, a relative abundance of F. commersonii 
in Tunisian marine waters and in the neighbouring areas 
could have a double negative impact, ecological and 
economic, both very negative for the local human popu-
lation. Nevertheless, these nefaste consequences have 
not yet been demonstrated, even if they remain a suit-
able hypothesis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank two anonymous referees 
for their useful and helpful suggestions that allowed the 
improvement of the manuscript.
NOVI PODATKI O POJAVLJANJU LESEPSKE SELIVKE, MODROPIKASTEGA TROBENTAČA 
FISTULARIA COMMERSONII (OSTEICHTHYES: FISTULARIDAE) OB TUNIZIJSKI OBALI 
(OSREDNJE SREDOZEMLJE)
Sihem RAFRAFI-NOUIRA, Néjia MNASRI & Moncef BOUMAÏZA
Laboratoire d’Hydrobiologie Littorale et Limnique, Université du 07 novembre à Carthage, Faculté des Sciences, Zarzouna, 7021 
Bizerte, Tunisia
Christian REYNAUD & Christian CAPAPÉ
Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Didactique, l’Éducation et la Formation, E. A. 3749, case 77, Université Montpellier 
II, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France
E-mail: capape@univ-montp2.fr
POVZETEK
Na podlagi opazovanj štirinajstih primerkov vrste modropikasti trobentač Fistularia commersonii iz tunizijskih 
obmorskih voda lahko vrsto trenutno obravnavamo kot uspešno uveljavljeno na tem območju. Vsi primerki so bili 
ujeti pri mestu Ras Jebel, kar predstavlja najsevernejši del območja razširjenosti vrste ob tunizijski obali. F. commer-
sonii je izrazito mesojeda vrsta in njene negativne vloge v biološkem okolju ne gre zanemariti.
Ključne besede: morfologija, morfometrični podatki, meristični podatki, segrevanje morja
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