Short scientific article UDK 597.556.33:591.9(262.2) Received: 2013-11-26 FIRST RECORDS OF RANDALL'S THREADFIN BREAM NEMIPTERUS RANDALLI (OSTEICHTHYES: NEMIPTERIDAE) OFF THE SYRIAN COAST (EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN) Malek ALI & Adib SAAD Marine Sciences Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria Christian REYNAUD & Christian CAPAPÉ Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Didactique, l'Éducation et la Formation, E. A. 3749, case 77, Université Montpellier II, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, 34 095 Montpellier cedex 5, France E-mail: capape@univ-montp2.fr ABSTRACT The first records of 5 specimens of Randall's threadfin bream Nemipterus randalli Russell, 1986 off the Syrian coast are reported in this note. These records confirm the eastern extension range of the species in the Mediterranean. The occurrence of N. randalli in the region and the eastern Mediterranean is commented and discussed in this report, suggesting, that a sustainable and breeding population is already established since a decade at least. Keywords: Nemipteridae, Nemipterus randalli, first records, distribution, Syrian coast, eastern Mediterranean Sea PRIME SEGNALAZIONI DI NEMIPTERUS RANDALLI (OSTEICHTHYES: NEMIPTERIDAE) AL LARGO DELLA COSTA DELLA SIRIA (MEDITERRANEO ORIENTALE) SINTESI L'articolo riporta il ritrovamento di cinque individui di Nemipterus randalli Russell, 1986 al largo della costa della Siria. Tali segnalazioni confermano !'estensione a est della distribuzione della specie nel Mediterraneo. La presenza di N. randalli nella regione e nel Mediterraneo orientale viene commentata e discussa. Gli autori ipotizzano che una popolazione sostenibile e riproduttiva si sia stabilita nell'area da almeno un decennio. Parole chiave: Nemipteridae, Nemipterus randalli, prime segnalazioni, distribuzione, costa della Siria, Mediterraneo orientale INTRODUCTION Randall's threadfin breams Nemipterus randalli Russell, 1986 is widely distributed in the western Indian Ocean, especially off India, Pakistan, Persian Gulf and in the Gulf of Aden. Additionally, the species is known off the east African coast and in waters surrounding Seychelles and Madagascar (Russell, 1990). N. randalli is reported in the Red Sea including the Gulf of Aqaba (Baranes & Golani, 1993; Golani & Bogorodsky, 2010). The first Mediterranean record of N. randalli was reported in the eastern Levantine Basin by Golani & Sonin (2006), but wrongly identified as Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch, 1791). At present, the species appears to be up to date successfully established in some areas of the eastern Mediterranean such as the Turkish marine waters (Erguden et al., 2010) and the close coast of Lebanon (Lelli et al., 2008). Surveys conducted off the Syrian coast since 2000 allowed to collect specimens of N. randalli which are presented and described in this short report, concomi-tantly the distribution of the species in the region and the eastern Mediterranean is commented and discussed. MATERIAL AND METHODS Two specimens of N. randalli were caught on 21 September 2013, using a bottom handlining of nylon rope n 80°, at a depth of approximately 25 m, on sandy-rocky bottom. The capture site was located 2 km off Rass Eben Hanni harbour (35° 36' N, 35° 40' E), 5 km north of Lattakia (Fig. 1). Additionally, three specimens were caught on 6 November 2013, using a bottom handlining of nylon rope n 70°, at a depth of approximately 20 m, on sandy-rocky bottom. The capture site was located 4 km off Jablah City (35° 21' N, 35° 48' E). The five specimens were measured to the nearest millimetre and weighed to the nearest gram. Morphometric measurements with percents of standard length (SL) and counts followed Russell (1990), Golani & Sonin (2006) and Lelli et al. (2008) and were included in Table 1. All specimens were preserved in 10% buffered formalin and deposited in the Ichthyological Collection of the Marine Sciences Laboratory, Agriculture Faculty at Tishreen University, Syria under the catalogue numbers: 255 M.S.L., 256 M.S.L. (Fig. 2), 257 M.S.L., 258 M.S.L. and 259 M.S.L. respectively. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Turkey /f t / Syria N ★ *Raas Albassit Lattakia * -Jableh •Tartous I. ' Lebanon s J 50Km T-1-T 35° 36° 37 Fig. 1: Map of the Mediterranean showing Syria and map of the coast of Syria pointing out the capture sites of Randall's threadfin breams Nemipterus randalli (black stars). Sl. 1: Zemljevid Sredozemlja, ki prikazuje Sirijo, ter zemljevid obrežnih voda Sirije, na katerem so označena mesta zajetja vrste Nemipterus randalli (črne zvezdice) The Syrian specimens were identified following Russell (1990), with main characteristic features as snout length about equal to eye diameter, interobital width 1.4 to 2.0 in eye, pectoral and pelvic fins very long, reaching to or just beyond level of origin of anal fin, caudal fin forked, upper rays produced into a long trailing filament; body compressed silvery-pink with 3-4 yellow stripes on sides below lateral line, eye salmon pink, dorsal fin pale bluish, caudal fin pink, caudal filament reddish, pelvic fins whitish, pectoral fins transparent. Additionally, morphometric measurements (including percent of standard length - SL) and counts are in total Fig. 2: Nemipterus randalli captured off the Syrian coast: specimen referenced 256 M.S.L, scale bar = 50 mm. Sl. 2: Vrsta Nemipterus randalli, zajeta ob sirski obali: primerek, zabeležen kot 256 M.S.L, tračno merilo = 50 mm Tab. 1: Morphometric measurements in mm and as a percentage of standard length (%SL), a weight in gram recorded in the 5 specimens of Nemipterus randalli caught off the Syrian coast. Tab. 1: Morfometrične mere v milimetrih in v odstotkih standardne dolžine (% SL) ter teža v gramih, zabeleženi pri petih primerkih vrste Nemipterus randalli, zajetih ob obali Sirije Reference of specimens 255 M.S.L 256 M.S.L 257 M.S.L 258 M.S.L. 259 M.S.L Morphometric measurements mm %SL mm %SL mm %SL mm %SL mm %SL Standard length 128 100.0 121 100.0 173 100.0 186 100.0 151 100.0 Total length 176 137.5 165 136.4 269 155.5 247 131.1 198 132.8 Total length without filament 161 125.8 151 124.8 233 134.7 - - - - Filament length 17 13.3 16 13.2 34 19.7 - - - - Forked length 144 112.5 137 113.2 216 124.9 214 112.6 170 115.1 Head length 42 32.8 40 33.1 58 33.5 58 33.8 51 31.2 Interorbital space 9 7.0 8 6.6 12 6.9 14 6.0 9 7.5 Eye horizontal diameter 12 9.4 12 9.9 15 8.7 16 9.9 15 8.6 Eye vertical diameter 12 9.4 12 9.9 13 7.5 15 9.3 14 8.1 Iris horizontal diameter 6 4.7 5 4.1 7 4.0 7 3.3 5 3.8 Iris vertical diameter 5 3.9 5 4.1 5 2.9 6 4.0 6 3.2 Snout length 13 10.2 12 9.9 11 6.4 13 7.3 11 7.0 Upper jaw length 14 10.9 13 10.7 18 10.4 18 9.3 14 9.7 Lower jaw length 15 11.7 14 11.6 19 11.0 18 9.3 14 9.7 Pectoral fin length 44 34.4 40 33.1 56 32.4 64 30.5 46 34.4 Pectoral fin base 9 7.0 8 6.6 10 5.8 7 6.0 9 3.8 Dorsal fin length 84 65.6 74 61.2 121 69.9 123 66.9 101 66.1 Dorsal fin base 66 51.6 60 49.6 95 54.9 97 51.7 78 52.2 Dorsal fin height 13 10.2 12 9.9 14 8.1 19 10.6 16 10.2 Pelvic fin length 38 29.7 33 27.3 58 33.5 56 31.8 48 30.1 Pelvic fin base 7 5.5 7 5.8 7 4.0 8 4.0 6 4.3 Pelvic axillary scale process length 8 6.3 7 5.8 11 6.4 11 6.0 9 5.9 Anal fin length 38 29.7 36 29.8 57 32.9 61 30.5 46 32.8 Anal fin base 25 19.5 22 18.2 35 20.2 37 19.2 29 19.9 Anal fin height 12 9.4 11 9.1 15 8.7 16 9.3 14 8.6 Body depth 39 30.5 37 30.6 56 32.4 58 28.5 43 31.2 Pre-pectoral length 45 35.2 40 33.1 59 34.1 63 33.8 51 33.9 Pre-dorsal length 43 33.6 41 33.9 54 31.2 61 35.1 53 32.8 Pre-anal length 84 65.6 78 64.5 112 64.7 122 64.2 97 65.6 Pre-pelvic length 44 34.4 38 31.4 64 37.0 68 36.4 55 36.6 Caudal peduncle length 18 14.1 17 14.0 26 15.0 26 13.2 20 14.0 Suborbital depth 5 3.9 4 3.3 9 5.2 9 4.6 7 4.8 First dorsal spine length 9 7.0 9 7.4 11 6.4 8 5.3 8 4.3 Longest spine length of dorsal fin 16 12.5 13 10.7 17 9.8 21 11.9 18 11.3 Counts 255 M.S.L 256 M.S.L 257 M.S.L 258 M.S.L. 259 M.S.L Pelvic fin spinous rays 1+ axillary scale 1+ axillary scale 1+ axillary scale 1+ axillary scale 1+ axillary scale Pelvic fin soft rays 5 5 5 5 5 Anal fine spinous rays 3 3 3 3 3 Anal fin soft rays 7 7 7 7 7 Pectoral fin spinous rays - - - - - Pectoral fin soft rays 16 16 16 16 16 Caudal fin soft rays 20 20 20 18 18 Lateral line scales 49 48 48 45 48 Total weight (g) 144 82 148 182 93 agreement with Russell (1990), Golani & Sonin (2006) and Lelli et al. (2008). So, these findings constitute the first records of N. randalli off the Syrian coast, and the species could be included in the local ichthyofauna (see Saad, 2005). Consequently, the occurrence of N. randalli in the Mediterranean Levant Basin is confirmed, suggesting that a sustainable population is established in the region. The definitive intrusion and expansion of an alien species such as N. randalli in the eastern Mediterranean could constitute a new case of a probable competition pressure with indigenous species. For instance, the drastic decline of captures of Salema Sarpa salpa (Linnaeus, 1758) in the area is probably due to a competition pressure for food with a Lessepsian migrant marbled spinefoot Siganus rivulatus (Forsskal 1775), both species being herbivorous (Bariche et al., 2004). Niche displacements were also reported between indigenous and in- vasive species (Golani & Galil, 1991; Lelli et al., 2008). Bluespotted cornetfish, Fistularia commersonii Ruppell, 1838 described as a 'Lessepsian sprinter' by Karachle et al. (2004) rapidly expanded in the eastern Mediterranean Sea (Golani et al., 2002). F. commersonii is at present abundantly collected throughout the Tunisian coast (Rafrafi-Nouira et al., 2012) where it constitutes an ecological danger for sparid species, such as gilt-head sea bream Sparus aurata Linnaeus, 1758, having locally a high economical interest. In total agreement with Lelli et al. (2008), the successful establishment of a breeding population of N. randalli off the coasts of Syria and Lebanon deserves a thorough study in order to show its role in the local ecosystem and its impact on indigenous species, mainly on the related species belonging to the family of Sparidae, greatly appreciated for local consumption and exported outside their areas of capture. PRVI PODATKI O VRSTI NEMIPTERUS RANDALLI (OSTEICHTHYES: NEMIPTERIDAE) OB SIRSKI OBALI (VZHODNO SREDOZEMLJE) Malek ALI & Adib SAAD Marine Sciences Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria Christian REYNAUD & Christian CAPAPÉ Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur la Didactique, l'Éducation et la Formation, E. A. 3749, case 77, Université Montpellier II, Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, 34 095 Montpellier cedex 5, France E-mail: capape@univ-montp2.fr POVZETEK Članek navaja prve podatke o petih primerkih vrste Nemipterus randalli (Russell, 1986), zajetih ob sirski obali, ki potrjujejo, da je omenjena vrsta razširjena tudi v vzhodni predel Sredozemlja. Avtor obravnava pojavljanje vrste N. randalli na tem področju in v vzhodnem Sredozemlju in sklepa, da je trajna in razmnožujoča se populacija tu ustaljena že vsaj desetletje. 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