Confirmed Occurrence of Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758) from Mersin Bay (Northeastern Mediterranean)

Abstract

In June 2018, a single female specimen of the Ocean sunfish, Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758) (122 cm in total length and 80 kg in weight) was caught by a commercial trammel net at a depth of 393 m in Mersin Bay (Bozyazı coast), Turkey. This paper presents the first substantiated occurrence and hence, the confirmation of M. mola in the Northeastern Mediterranean, Turkey. Morphological and meristic measurements of the specimen were made and recorded with the catalog number MEUFC-18-11-101 in the Museum of the Systematic in, Mersin University’s Faculty of Fisheries. Morphometric and mer-istic data matched other recordings of this species from parts of the Mediterranean, and the histor-ical captured record of the species in the Mediterranean was documented.

Keywords

• ocean sunfish
• rare occurrence
• mersin bay
• mediterranean sea
• turkey