Abstract
A new record of the endangered species blackchin guitarfish, Rhinobatos cemiculus (925 mm TL) is here reported from South Aegean Sea. On 11 January 2015, a single specimen was collected by longline off from the Kusadasi Bay, Turkey. This new finding confirms the presence of the species along the Anatolian coasts of Aegean Sea and shows that the species is occuring in the South Aegean Sea. Rhinobatos cemiculus belonging to family Rhinobatidae was identified and its distribution was compared for the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea based on literature. The main identification and some measurements of morphometric characteristics were given. In terms of distribution of fish taxa, Aegean coasts of Turkey has the highest diversity with 449 species, which of 64 species belong to Elasmobranchii. This report aims to close information gaps in distribution endangered cartilaginous fish throughout the Turkish Aegean coasts.
Highlights
A new record of the endangered species blackchin guitarfish, Rhinobatos cemiculus (925 mm TL) is here reported from South Aegean Sea
The family Rhinobatidae consists of 52 species worldwide, two of which have been found to occur in the Mediterranean (Rhinobatos cemiculus Geoffroy SaintHilaire 1817 and Rhinobatos rhinobatos (Linnaeus 1758))
This study is to report on a new record of R. cemiculus from Kuşadası Bay confirming the presence of the species in the Aegean Sea
Summary
A new record of the endangered species blackchin guitarfish, Rhinobatos cemiculus (925 mm TL) is here reported from South Aegean Sea. On 11 January 2015, a single specimen was collected by longline off from the Kuşadası Bay, Turkey. Rhinobatos cemiculus is widely distributed eastern Atlantic from Portugal to Angola (McEachran and Capapé, 1984), mostly on sandy and muddy bottoms to maximum depth of 100 m (Capapé and Zaouali, 1994) It is a prevalent Guitarfish in the Central Mediterranean Sea (i.e. Gulf of Gabés) (Echwikhi et al 2013) and North eastern Atlantic (e.g. Senegalese coast) (Seck et al 2004). Due to its commercial interest, overfishing of mature females (that are aplacental viviparous and not prolific) poses a threat for resilience and conservation of this species (Echwikhi et al 2013). It is listed as “endangered” according to the IUCN Red List of Threathened Species (IUCN, 2014)
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