Unusual presence of juveniles of the Indo-Pacific blackmouth splitfin Synagrops japonicus in the southwest Mediterranean coast

Abstract

       This paper reports additional records of the Indo-Pacific fish Synagrops japonicus (Doderlein, 1884) in Western Mediterranean. Twenty juveniles of this species ranging from 4 to 4.8 cm (TL) were caught in Annaba Bay, Algeria, using beach seine, in Summer of 2011 (9 specimens, 4 ≤ TL ≤ 4.6 cm) and 2012 (11 specimens, 4.2 ≤ TL ≤ 4.8 cm). Some hypotheses on the origin of this unusual presence are discussed.