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received: 2019-10-24                  DOI 10.19233/ASHN.2019.23
UNUSUAL RECORD OF ROUND FANTAIL STINGRAY TAENIUROPS 
GRABATA (CHONDRICHTHYES: DASYATIDAE) FROM THE TUNISIAN 
COAST (CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN SEA)
Mohamed Mourad BEN AMOR & Marouène BDIOUI
Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, port de pêche, 2025 La Goulette, Tunisia
Khadija OUNIFI-BEN AMOR
Université de Tunis El Manar, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Laboratoire de Biodiversité, Biotechnologie et Changement Climatique, 
LR11ES09, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia
Christian REYNAUD & Christian CAPAPÉ
Laboratoire d’Ichtyologie, Université de Montpellier, case 104, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France
e-mail: capape@univ-montp2.fr 
ABSTRACT
This paper reports the capture of a specimen of round fantail stingray Taeniurops grabata (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 
1817) on the northern coast of Tunisia, caught in deep waters, at a depth of 450 m. It was a large specimen of 1.12 
m in disc width, 2.70 m in total length and 110 kg in total body weight. This is the largest and heaviest specimen 
known to date in Tunisian waters, and probably in the Mediterranean and even outside it. Additionally, comments 
are given about the distribution of the species, well-known in the eastern Mediterranean Basin and eastern tropical 
Atlantic, but unknown in the western Mediterranean Basin.
Key words: Dasyatidae, distribution, expansion range, Mediterranean Sea, eastern tropical Atlantic
RITROVAMENTO INUSUALE DI TRIGONE AFRICANO TAENIUROPS GRABATA 
(CHONDRICHTHYES: DASYATIDAE) LUNGO LA COSTA DELLA TUNISIA 
(MEDITERRANEO CENTRALE)
SINTESI
L’articolo riporta la cattura di un esemplare di trigone africano, Taeniurops grabata (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817), 
lungo la costa settentrionale della Tunisia, catturato in acque profonde, ossia a 450 m di profondità. L’esemplare era 
molto grande, con 1,12 m di larghezza del disco, 2,70 m di lunghezza totale e 110 kg di peso corporeo totale. Si 
tratta dell’esemplare più grande e più pesante ritrovato fino ad oggi nelle acque tunisine, e probabilmente anche nel 
Mediterraneo e al di fuori di esso. Gli autori inoltre discutono la distribuzione della specie, ben nota nel bacino del 
Mediterraneo orientale e nell’Atlantico tropicale orientale, ma sconosciuta nel bacino del Mediterraneo occidentale.
Parole chiave: Dasyatidae, distribuzione, area di espansione, mare Mediterraneo, Atlantico tropicale orientale
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INTRODUCTION
Round fantail stingray Taeniurops grabata (Geoffroy 
Saint-Hilaire, 1817) is found off the west African coast 
from Mauritania to Angola, around the Sào Tiago and 
Cape Verde Islands (Capapé & Desoutter, 1990). It has 
also been reported from the Azores Islands, where large 
free-swimming specimens were observed in the wild in 
shallow coastal waters (Barreiros, pers. comm., 2019). T. 
grabata occurs throughout southeastern Mediterranean 
(McEachran & Capapé, 1984), especially from Turkish 
waters (Bilecenoglu et al., 2014) to the Levant Basin 
(Golani, 2005), with the Syrian coast constituting to date 
the easternmost extension of its range (Ali et al., 2013).
Taeniurops grabata has been reported in southern 
Tunisia, mainly in the Gulf of Gabès where a vi-
able population appears to be successfully established 
(Capapé, 1989; Bradai et al., 2004). However, more 
recently, Boudaya et al. (2018) studied parasitic infesta-
tion occurring in specimens captured off Bizerte, a city 
located in northern Tunisia. Additionally, a large speci-
men of T. grabata was captured from the same area and 
landed at the fish market of Zarzouna-Bizerte, where 
it was observed and photographed. This specimen is 
described in the present paper and some comments are 
given about the species distribution in the local area, the 
Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern tropical Atlantic.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
On 28 September 2019, a female specimen of Tae-
niurops grabata was caught by biface bottom trawl in 
the coastal waters of northern Tunisia, off Bizerte at 37° 
40’ N and 9° 90’ E (Fig. 1). The capture occurred at a 
depth of 450 m, on soft bottom, unfortunately no infor-
mation was provided about the associated fauna. Some 
measurements were recorded to the nearest centimetre 
(cm) and total body weight to the nearest kilogram (kg). 
Other morphometric measurement could not be taken, 
because the specimen was cut into slices after landing to 
be sold at the fish market of Bizerte; its flesh is appreci-
ated in the preparation and consumption of local dishes.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The specimen was identified as Taeniurops grabata 
following Mc Eachran & Capapé (1984): disc rather cir-
cular, broader than long, tail short and compressed, with 
a membranous fold below; dorsal surface almost entirely 
rugose, with a row of spines from the middle of the disc 
to the spine; dorsal surface brown with dark blotches and 
irregular vermiculation, belly beige (Fig. 2).
McEachran & Capapé (1984) noted that the maxi-
mum disc width of T. grabata could reach 1 m, in total 
agreement with specimens recorded by Capapé (1989) 
from the Gulf of Gabès. The present specimen meas-
ured 1.12 m in disc width, 2.7 m in total length, and 
its total body weight reached 110 kg. This is therefore 
that largest and heaviest Taeniurops grabata recorded 
to date in Tunisian waters, probably throughout the 
Mediterranean and even outside this sea. Large elasmo-
branch species, generally sharks, occur off the northern 
coast of the Tunisian transitional area between the 
eastern and western basins (Soufi-Kechaou et al., 2018; 
Capapé et al., 2018), but this was the first time that as 
large a batoid species as T. grabata was found there, 
and furthermore, in deep waters. This species generally 
inhabits shallow coastal waters, not exceeding 50 m 
(Capapé, 1989). This capture of T. grabata at a depth 
of 450 m is rather unusual, probably occasional, but it 
could also explain the rarity of the species in deep areas 
that are poorly exploited by fisheries.
Taeniurops grabata used to be considered as a spe-
cies having tropical affinities and only found in southern 
Tunisian regions (Postel, 1956). Conversely, Boudaya 
et al. (2018) studied parasitic infestation occurring in 
specimens of T. grabata captured northward from Biz-
erte. Such occurrence was probably due to migration 
toward northern regions. Similar patterns were reported 
for other elasmobranch species previously unknown in 
this latter area (El Kamel et al., 2009; El Kamel-Moutalibi 
et al., 2014; Rafrafi-Nouira et al., 2015, Rafrafi-Nouira, 
2016; Soufi-Kechaou et al., 2018). These migrations 
are likely owed to the warming of the Mediterranean 
waters, including the Tunisian coast, due to global cli-
mate change (Francour et al., 1994). Additionally, the 
present capture of a large specimen indicates that the 
occurrence of a northern population of T. grabata cannot 
be totally ruled out. It could be also considered as the 
species’ northwesternmost extent of habitat range in the 
Fig. 1: Map of northern Tunisia with the black star 
indicating the capture site of Taeniurops grabata. GT = 
Gulf of Tunis; GH=Gulf of Hammamet.
Sl. 1: Zemljevid severne Tunizije s črno zvezdico, ki 
označuje lokaliteto ulova vrste Taeniurops grabata. GT 
= tuniški zaliv; GH=hamameški zaliv.
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Mediterranean Sea, as the species does not occur in the 
western Basin (Mc Eachran & Capapé, 1984) and is not 
reported northward off the coast of France (Capapé et al., 
2006). Additionally, among Maghreb shores, T. grabata is 
unknown off the Algerian coast (Refes et al., 2010) and 
off the Moroccan coast (Lloris & Rucabado, 1998).
Boudaya et al. (2018) found the same anthocephalid 
species in T. grabata from the Tunisian coast and in those 
from the Senegalese coast. Additionally, three species 
belonging to the monogenean genus Heterocotyle Scoot 
1904 parasitized the gills of T. grabata from these two 
distinct areas (Neifar et al., 1999). Such discoveries 
suggest that the distribution of T. grabata is not really 
fragmented and that the species’ non-occurrence could 
be due to lack of sampling effort (Boudaya et al., 2018). 
T. grabata is known to inhabit shallow coastal waters 
(Capapé, 1989; Barreiros, pers. comm., 2019), however 
the capture of the studied specimen in deep waters con-
firms the opinion of Ajmenian & Powers (2014), who 
noted that batoid species are very mobile and prone to 
both large latitudinal and vertical migrations. Still, only 
molecular tools could indicate whether or not different 
populations of T. grabata occur in the Mediterranean 
Sea and in the eastern tropical Atlantic.
Fig. 2: The Taeniurops grabata captured from the northern coast of Tunisia. Dorsal surface = A. 
posterior view, B. anterior view, C. anterior margin view. D. tail, black arrow indicating the place 
of the sting removed by fishermen.
Sl. 2: Primerek vrste Taeniurops grabata, ujet ob severni tunizijski obali. Zgornja površina - A. 
pogled od zadaj, B. pogled od spredaj, C. pogled sprednjega roba. D. rep, črna puščica označuje 
predel, s katerega so ribiči odstranili trn.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to kindly thank Dr João Pedro Barrei-
ros from the Univeristy of Azores, Portugal for infomation 
about Taeniurops grabata from Azores Islands, and Prof 
Lassad Neifar and Dr Lobna Boudaya from the University 
of Sfax, Tunisia for sending an important paper.
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NENAVADNI ZAPIS O POJAVLJANJU MORSKEGA BIČA VRSTE TAENIUROPS GRABATA 
(CHONDRICHTHYES: DASYATIDAE) IZ TUNIZIJSKIH VODA 
(OSREDNJE SREDOZEMSKO MORJE)
Mohamed Mourad BEN AMOR & Marouène BDIOUI
Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, port de pêche, 2025 La Goulette, Tunisia
Khadija OUNIFI-BEN AMOR
Université de Tunis El Manar, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Laboratoire de Biodiversité, Biotechnologie et Changement Climatique, 
LR11ES09, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia
Christian REYNAUD & Christian CAPAPÉ
Laboratoire d’Ichtyologie, Université de Montpellier, case 104, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France
e-mail: capape@univ-montp2.fr 
POVZETEK
Avtorji poročajo o ulovu morskega biča vrste Taeniurops grabata (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) iz globine 450 m 
ob severni tunizijski obali. Gre za večji primerek, ki je meril 1,12 m v premeru telesnega diska in tehtal 110 kg. To 
je doslej največji in najtežji zabeleženi primerek te vrste v tunizijskih vodah in verjetno tudi v sredozemskih vodah 
in širše. Avtorji še razpravljajo o razširjenosti vrste, ki je sicer dobro raziskana v vzhodnem Sredozemskem morju in 
tropskem delu vzhodnega Atlantika, dokaj neznana pa v zahodnem delu Sredozemlja. 
Ključne besede: Dasyatidae, razširjenost, širjenje areala, Sredozemsko morje, vzhodni tropski Atlantik
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