Range Expansion of Equulites popei (Whitley 1932) Along the Mediterranean Coast of Turkey

Abstract

On 26 October 2018, two specimens of Equulites popei (Whitley 1932) were collected at a depth of 30 m from Yumurtalık coast, Iskenderun Bay and other two specimens were captured by trammel net at a depth of 38 m in the vicinity of Antalya Bay on 17 March 2019. Equulites popei previously mistaken as Equulites elongatus, is a lessepsian migrant to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Although E. popei has been distributed in the Mediterranean Sea and reported from the northeastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The present study is the first confirmed reports of the species from Iskenderun Bay and Antalya Bay, Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Besides, this report is the first observation for these locations and fills another gap in the distribution range of the species. All measurements and counts as well as morphological and color descriptions of E. popei agree with previous descriptions. The occurrence of this species in the Mediterranean Sea is the result of migration from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal.