A long and deep step in range expansion of an alien marine mammal in the Mediterranean: First record of the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin Sousa plumbea (G. Cuvier, 1829) in the Greek Seas

Alexandros Frantzis

doi:10.3391/bir.2018.7.1.13

Abstract

A long and deep step in range expansion of an alien marine mammal in the Mediterranean: First record of the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin Sousa plumbea (G. Cuvier, 1829) in the Greek Seas

Highlights

Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, a continuously growing number of species that inhabit the Red Sea have been recorded as alien in the Mediterranean Sea (Zenetos et al 2012, 2017)
Our observations show the potential of humpback dolphins to reach the shallow and coastal waters of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, where native populations of the vulnerable common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the endangered short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) occur
A humpback dolphin sighting was reported by Marchessaux (1980) at the entrance of Port Said harbor in Egypt, no Lessepsian marine mammal species had been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea per se until 2000

Summary

Introduction

Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, a continuously growing number of species (almost 450 species out of 820 alien species in the Mediterranean) that inhabit the Red Sea have been recorded as alien in the Mediterranean Sea (Zenetos et al 2012, 2017). A humpback dolphin sighting was reported by Marchessaux (1980) at the entrance of Port Said harbor in Egypt, no Lessepsian marine mammal species had been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea per se until 2000. Consecutive sightings of a single humpback dolphin (cited as Sousa sp.) were reported in three locations along the coasts of Israel (Kerem et al 2001). In February and April 2016, two to four humpback dolphins at a time (cited as likely Sousa plumbea) were recorded by underwater cameras while feeding on fish escaping from an experimental demersal trawl in two separate hauls in shallow waters of Mersin Bay, Turkey (Ozbilgin et al 2018). 1829)] in the Greek Seas, 845 and 945 km west of the westernmost previous record and discuss the possibility of the establishment of a Mediterranean population with potential to expand into the Aegean Sea

Results

Frantzis

Discussion