İlker Aydın

The first record of the Jinga shrimp, Metapenaeus affinis (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) (Decapoda, Penaeidae) from the Mediterranean Sea

Of the nearly 600 alien marine species of Metazoa that have been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea, two-thirds have established durable populations of ever larger range (Galil, 2008a, b). The majority of the aliens originate from the Indo Pacific region and have entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal (Ery threan aliens). Nine species of alien penaeid prawns occur in the Levant Basin, eastern Mediterranean, all of them known from the Turkish coast: Marsupenaeus japonicus (Bate, 1888), Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798), Penaeus semi sulcatus De Haan, 1844, Melicertus hathor (Burkenroad, 1959), Metapenaeop sis aegyptia Galil, 1990, Metapenaeopsis mogiensis consobrina (Nobili, 1904), Metapenaeus stebbingi (Nobili, 1904), Trachysalambria palaestinensis (Steinitz, 1932), and Fenneropenaeus merguiensis (De Man, 1888) (cf. Galil, 2008a, b). All the alien penaeids but one (E merguiensis) have entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. The first three species are highly valued commercially and consti tute most of the prawn catch off southeastern Turkey (Duruer et al., 2008). Extensive studies conducted in 2003-2005 of the commercial prawn trammel net fishery targeting the native Mediterranean prawn, Melicertus kerathurus (Forsk?l, 1775) in Izmir Bay, have revealed no alien prawns, either in the landed catch or in the discard (Gok?e & Metin, 2007; Akyol, 2008).

A preliminary study on the survival of brown comber, Serranus hepatus (Actinopterygii, Perciformes, Serranidae), escaping from the codend of a bottom trawl

Demersal trawling in Turkish Coasts is performed on the grounds where more than 50 species encounter the gear (Tosunoglu et al. 2003b). Similarly, it has been reported that trawl fisheries is generally multispecies in the Mediterranean Sea (Tudela 2004). A considerable amount of fishes such as annular seabream, (Diplodus annularis) (see Ozbilgin et al. 2005), black goby (Gobius niger), red bandfish (Cepola macrophthalma) (see Lamprakis et al. 2003) end up as discard or bycatch in the bottom trawl fishery that targets the marketable demersal species. One of the reported discard fishes captured by bottom trawls (Lamprakis et al. 2003) is brown comber, Serranus hepatus, which is a species of a minor commercial (Froese and Pauly 2009). Minimum landing size (MLS), which is designed to allow escapement of undersized fish, for this species is not specified in the Turkish Fisheries Regulations (Anonymous 2008). Discard of trawl fisheries are commonly a result of conventional diamond mesh cod-ends regarding MLS of the target species (Graham and Kynoch 2001). In Turkish waters, large amount of bycatch and discard where reported by Tosunoglu et al. (2003b) and Metin et al. (2005). According to the present legislation, minimum trawl codend mesh sizes are 40 mm for the Black Sea and 44 mm for the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea (Anonymous 2008). The fate of fish such as brown comber, in terms of unaccounted fishing mortality, is ACTA ICHTHYOLOGICA ET PISCATORIA (2010) 40 (1): 27–36 DOI: 10.3750/AIP2010.40.1.04

First record of pignosed arrowtooth eel, Dysomma brevirostre (Actinopterygii: Anguilliformes: Synaphobranchidae), from the Aegean Sea

In 2008, a specimen of a pignosed arrowtooth eel, Dysomma brevirostre (Facciola, 1887), was caught by a bottom trawling operation at Sigacik Bay (Aegean Sea), Turkey. Total length (TL) and weight of the fish were 23.2 cm and 2.00 g, respectively. This study reports the first record of D. brevirostre from the Aegean Sea and logs a new species for the Turkish Ichthyofauna.

A new record of Lagocephalus guentheri (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) from the north-eastern Aegean Sea

The family Tetraodontidae (pufferfishes) consists of about 184 species (Matsuura, 2015), of which four are known as Lessepsian migrants in the Mediterranean Sea (Golani, Öztürk, & Başusta, 2006). Among the pufferfishes, the genus Lagocephalus is widely distributed in warm shallow waters of the world (Matsuura, Golani, & Bogorodsky, 2011); four species, namely L. lagocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758), L. spadiceus (Richardson, 1844), L. sceleratus (Gmelin, 1788) and L. suezensis Clark & Gohar, 1953, are well-known in the Mediterranean, especially in the eastern basin (Golani et al., 2006). Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915 is closely related to L. spadiceus and L. gloveri Abe & Tabeta, 1983 from the Red Sea. Distinguishing characters are given by Matsuura et al. (2011). L. guentheri has been reported for the first time from the Mediterranean Sea off Alexandria, Egypt, in 2015 (Farrag, El-Haweet, Akel, & Moustafa, 2016). We report here a new record from the Aegean Sea. On 1 December 2015, a specimen of L. guentheri (Figure 1) was captured by commercial bottom trawl (44 mm stretched mesh size) from Çandarlı Bay (38°53’N, 26°53’E, Figure 2) at a depth of 50 m. The specimen was fixed in 5% formaldehyde solution and stored in the fish collection of the Ege University Fisheries Faculty, Izmir, Turkey (ESFM-PIS/2015-10). Diagnostic features of the specimen were examined under a magnifying glass and all measurements were made with a digital caliper and are

Severe Case of Lordosis-Kyphosis-Ankylosis in Mullus barbatus Linnaeus, 1758 (Teleostei: Mullidae) Collected from the Northern Aegean Sea, Turkey

This study aimed to identify skeletal deformities in Mullus barbatus collected from a natural population from northern the Aegean Sea, Turkey. Lordosis, kyphosis, and ankylosis were detected. Assessment of abnormality in the studied specimen was carried out by the morphological diagnosis and also by using radiography. The case studied was not fatal as it occurred in an adult individual. The possible causes for such deformity are discussed. Further studies are needed to relate specific pollutants with the observed types of deformity.

First record of an Indo-Pacific gaper, Champsodon vorax (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Champsodontidae), from the Aegean Sea, Turkey

A specimen of Champsodon vorax Günther, 1867, of 113 mm SL, was caught on 6 September 2014 with a bottom trawl from the entrance of the Bay of Izmir, north-eastern Aegean Sea at a depth of 65 m. The presently reported study constitutes the fi rst record for the Aegean Sea but also the fourth record for the Mediterranean Sea. The specimen described in this paper is the largest individual reported to date from the Mediterranean. As it is evident from the spatial dynamics of all successive records of C. vorax in the Mediterranean this gaper seems to be a rapidly expanding species. It disperses both westwards and northwards.

Determination of the Tissue Distribution of PPO on Caramote Prawn (Melicertus kerathurus, Forskal, 1755) and Jinga Shrimp (Metapenaeus affinis, H. Milne Edwards, 1837) Caught from Izmir

Tissue distribution of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was studied in caramote prawn (Melicertus kerathurus) and jinga shrimp (Metapenaeus affinis) postmortem. Activity was analyzed in different tissues: the head (cephalothorax + carapace), carapace, exoskeleton of the abdomen, pereopods, and maxillipeds, individually. Based on the results, PPO activity of jinga shrimp was determined to be higher than caramote prawn during the research period. Partial tissue distribution showed that the highest activity was determined in carapace by using 70% ammonium sulfate fractions. Partial tissue distribution was also used to determine the spread of black spots. In addition, comparison between the PPO levels of caramote prawn and jinga shrimp was performed. The importance of these species is their economic value. However, there is no available data in the literature about caramote prawn and jinga shrimp. The determined data showed us that using antioxidant chemicals would be suitable for jinga shrimp.