Northernmost occurrence of the white grouper, Epinephelus aeneus (Perciformes: Serranidae), in the Mediterranean area

Abstract

Background. On 5 March 2006 an adult specimen of white grouper, Epinephelus aeneus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817), was caught with long-line gear off the Island Dugi otok (between islets Mužanj and Sakarun, eastern Adriatic Sea, Croatian coast, 44°06′46.9″N; 14°53′47.08″E) on a soft, sandy bottom at a depth of 40 meters. The capture location is around 400 km north of the northern range of distribution in the Adriatic and around 800 km north of the northern limit of distribution published earlier. This is the northernmost occurrence of the white grouper in the Mediterranean area. As a top carnivorous species and among the largest coastal fish species, groupers could probably influence ecology of many native fish species and affect local artisanal fishery.

Keywords

• fish
• zoogeography
• Epinephelus aeneus
• groupers