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Additional records of the bigeye thresher shark, Alopias superciliosus, from the central and eastern Mediterranean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Simona Clo ,
Ramón Bonfil  and
Eleonora De Sabata
Simona Clo*
Affiliation:
Medsharks, via Ruggero Fauro 82, 00197 Roma, Italy CTS, via Albalonga 3, 00184 Roma, Italy
Ramón Bonfil
Affiliation:
351 E 4th St, Apt 1D, New York, NY 10009, USA
Eleonora De Sabata
Affiliation:
Medsharks, via Ruggero Fauro 82, 00197 Roma, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Simona Clo, Medsharks, via Ruggero Fauro 82, 00197 Roma, Italy email: simona@medsharks.org

Abstract

Additional reports of the presence of Alopias superciliosus in Italian and Turkish waters confirm the presence of the species in the central and eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Keywords

Alopias superciliosusbigeye thresher sharkMediterranean Sea

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e20
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

The bigeye thresher shark, Alopias superciliosus, is distributed worldwide in tropical and temperate seas. Its presence is known from sparse records in the western and central Mediterranean Sea (Gruber & Compagno, Reference Gruber and Compagno1981) and the eastern Mediterranean Sea (Kabasakal & Karhan, Reference Kabasakal and Karhan2007), but is considered scarce or rare in the area (Barrull & Mate, Reference Barrull and Mate2002). In the regional assessment of Chondrichthyans in the Mediterranean Sea, the IUCN Shark Specialist Group listed the species as data deficient (Cavanagh & Gibson, Reference Cavanagh and Gibson2007). However, is it rare in the Mediterranean, or just rarely caught and reported? Recent multiple records from the eastern basin and Sicilian Channel indicate that it cannot be considered a vagrant in these areas. Two more specimens are described here, with an updated list of records in the Mediterranean Sea (Table 1).

Table 1.

Updated records of the bigeye thresher shark in the Mediterranean Sea.

In April 2005 a 350 TL bigeye thresher shark was landed in Marmaris, Turkey. Positive identification of this species was based on both photographs and the very distinctive terminal lobe of the tail. Photographic and morphometric data of the tail are given here (Figure 1; Table 2).

Fig. 1.

Bigeye thresher shark in Marmaris.

Table 2.

Morphometric length of the tail.

On 26 June 2006 a male bigeye thresher shark was photographed (Figure 2) in a fish shop in Porto Cesareo, Ionian Sea, Italy.

Fig. 2.

Bigeye thresher shark in Porto Cesareo.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank Mr Gennaro Ciavarella for providing the pictures of the Porto Cesareo specimen and Marmaris fishermen and divers.

References

REFERENCES

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Figure 0

Table 1. Updated records of the bigeye thresher shark in the Mediterranean Sea.

Figure 1

Fig. 1. Bigeye thresher shark in Marmaris.

Figure 2

Table 2. Morphometric length of the tail.

Figure 3

Fig. 2. Bigeye thresher shark in Porto Cesareo.