Abstract
This study discusses the first recorded occurrence of the Red Sea goatfish, Parupeneus forsskali in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters, to the best of the authors’ understanding. On 31 January 2016, a single specimen of this species was captured from Alexandria coastal waters (31°16'N; 30°10'E), Mediterranean Sea, Egypt. The collected specimen represents the first record of P. forsskali in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters. This specimen has a total length of 26.5 cm, fork length of 23.0 cm and standard length of 21.5 cm and weighed 228.4 g (total weight). The finding of this paper confirms the establishment of this Lessepsian immigrant along the eastern Mediterranean. Key words: Parupeneus forsskali, Lessepsian immigrant, Mediterranean, Egypt.
Highlights
The goatfish is a commercially important demersal species, living mostly in sand, muddy sand or gravel bottoms at depths ranging from 10 to 120 m (Golani, 1994)
On 31 January 2016, a single specimen of Red Sea goatfish, P. forsskali (265 mm TL; 215 mm SL) was observed among the other goatfish species caught by the trammel nets operated in Alexandria fishing ground
The majority of non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean Sea have been introduced through this way (Coll et al, 2010) in a process termed „Lessepsian migration‟ (Por, 1978) or „Erythrean invasion‟ (Galil, 2000)
Summary
The goatfish (family: Mullidae) is a commercially important demersal species, living mostly in sand, muddy sand or gravel bottoms at depths ranging from 10 to 120 m (Golani, 1994). The Red Sea goatfish or Forsskål‟s goatfish, P. forsskali (Fourmanoir and Guézé, 1976) is an Indian Ocean species that is native to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and recorded from Socotra (Randall, 1983, 2004). It is recognized by a black stripe, which runs from the tip of its snout, through the eye, along the lateral line and ending beneath the posterior part of second dorsal fin. A black spot is present on the upper side of the caudal peduncle (Randall, 1983, 2004) It is common in shallow water of Red Sea and on sandy bottoms near coral reefs. The Red Sea goatfish, P. forsskali was present for the first time in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters
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