New occurrence and new records of fish species of Tunisian coasts

Abstract

Investigations conducted in the Gulf of Hammamet (Central Tunisia) between 2013 and 2017, revealed the sighting of six new species of fish not reported in the area. Five species are observed in the landings of the Teboulba artisanal fishery. Among them, two are mentioned for the first time in Tunisia: The goatfish Upeneus moluccensis (Bleeker, 1855), a non-native species of the Mullidae family and the Alexandria pompano Alectis alexandrinus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) (Carangidae). Two other rare species not observed during the last three decades in Tunisia are noted: The zebra seabream Diplodus cervinus cervinus (Lowe, 1838) (Sparidae) and the Red Seabream Pagellus bogaraveo (Brünnich, 1768) (Sparidae). The squirrelfish Sargocentron rubrum (Forskäl, 1775) (Holocentridae) is an exotic species detected in Tunisian water for the second time during this study. A cartilaginous fish was landed in the port of Mahdia: The Atlantic torpedo, Torpedo nobiliana Bonaparte, 1835, not observed since 80’s.