Occurrence of the Red Sea goatfish Parupeneus forsskali (Fourmanoir & Guézé, 1976) (Perciformes: Mullidae) from Iskenderun Bay, Northeastern Mediterranean

On 15 March 2015, a single specimen of Parupeneus forsskali (Fourmanoir & Guézé, 1976) was captured by a trammel net at a depth of 30 m from Iskenderun Bay. The occurrence of the Red Sea goatfish P. forsskali was reported for the first time in the Iskenderun Bay and the first captured data for the Turkish marine waters.


Introduction
The goatfish family Mullidae consists of six genera: Mulloidichthys Whitley, Mullus Linnaeus, Parupeneus Bleeker, Pseudupeneus Bleeker, Upeneus Cuvier, and Upeneichthys Bleeker. Mulloidichthys is the only genus represented by species in all tropical and subtropical seas (Randall and King, 2009). The species of Parupeneus are known from the Indo-Pacific region.
The Red Sea goatfish Parupeneus forsskali (Fourmanoir & Guézé, 1976) is distinguished and recognized from other Mullid species by no teeth in the upper jaw and a black stripe, which runs from the tip of its snout, through the eye, along the lateral line, and ending beneath the rear of the second dorsal fin. A black spot is also present on the upper side of the caudal peduncle (Randall, 2004).
P. forsskali is endemic to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (Ben-Tuvia and Kissil, 1988;Randall, 1983;Randall, 2004). The first and second observation of P. forsskali in the Turkish coast was visiual sighted off Mersin at northeastern Mediterranean in 2000 and four years later again observed Tasucu in August 2004 by during an underwater survey (Çınar et al., 2006) and later P. forsskali was reported capture data from the Beirut, Lebonan, by Bariche et al. (2013), Sonin et al. (2013) was also reported the P. forsskali from southern edge of Haifa Bay, Israel in the same period and subsequently numerous observations by underwater divers off the coast of Israel (Sonin et al., 2013). According to Sonin et al. (2013) P. forsskali may probably be settlement of dense population in the Mediterranean.
The present study of P. forsskali was reported for the first time in the Iskenderun Bay and the second record for the Turkish waters. Besides, the first capture data of P. forsskali from Iskenderun Bay in Turkish marine waters.

Material and Method
On 15 March 2015, a single specimen of P. forsskali (231mm TL; 194mm SL) was captured by a trammel net at a depth 30 m in Iskenderun Bay (36° 21' 44'' N; 35° 49' 07'' E). All measurements were made with a digital caliper. Most diagnostic features and morphometric characters were described according to Khalaf andDisi (1997), Çinar et al. (2006) and Bariche (2013). The collected two specimens preserved in 4% formalin and deposited at the ichthyological collection of Faculty of Fisheries, University of Iskenderun Technical. The specimen received catalogue number (MSM-PIS/2015-3) (Fig. 1).

Results
A single Red Sea goatfish specimen has the following features: Dorsal fin VIII + 9; anal fin I, 7; pectoral fin 16; lateral line scales 35, gil rakers 7+21; body depth 3.9 in SL; body width 2.26 in body depth; head length 3.1 in SL; orbit diameter 5.9 in HL; interorbital space convex the width 3.04 in HL; barbell length 1.57 in HL; pectoral fin length 1.6 in HL; penultimate dorsal ray 1.1 in length of last dorsal ray. One row of teeth on both jaws, not visible when mouth is closed. No teeth on vomer and palatines. Morphometric measurements and meristic characters are given in Table 1.

Table 1. Morphometric and meristic measurements of P. forsskali
The Red Sea goatfish is characterized by the black stripe running from tip of snout through eye. There is also a black spot on each side of caudal peduncle, with lateral line touching its lower edge. Colour: The back ground colour is red. The rays of first dorsal, pectoral and ventral fins are pink with pinkish-transparent membranes. Second dorsal and caudal fins with a touch of yellow.
The Parupeneus genus is differentiated primarily by dentition. The teeth in the jaws are bluntly conical and well spaced in a single row, and there are no teeth on the vomer or palatines. All the species of Parupeneus share the following meristic data: dorsal fins VIII 9; anal-fin rays 7; principal caudal fin rays 1 5; pelvic-fin rays I, 5; and lateral-line scales 27 or 28. The variation in the lateral-line scale count is attributed to the decision of the observer where to end the scale count at the base of the caudal fin (Randall and King, 2009).

Discussion
P. forsskali is a common fish inhabits, adults are both on sandy bottoms and coral reefs of the Red Sea (Kumaran et al., 1984;Golani, 1999;Khalaf, M., 2004;Al-Rousan et al., 2005). However, juveniles are found in large numbers in shallow sandy beaches (Golani, 1993). It reaches a maximum total length of 28.1 cm in female and 28.5 cm in male (Sabrah, 2015) and feeds on benthic invertebrates (Hobson, 1974).
Goatfishes, the species is commercially important for fisheries in Mediterranean. .According to Absy (1988) and Khalaf and Disi (1997), these species may be exploited by the Mediterranean fishery. Sabrah (2015) reported similar results of P. forsskali for fisheries biology and population dynamics in Hurghada, Egypt. Although P. forsskali was recorded only at Mersin in the northeastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Up to date specimens of this species has not been reported in the eastern side coast of Turkey.
Consequently, the single specimen does not necessarily indicate an settled pupulation at this area. This species may be a commercial fifth Mullid species in the Mediterranean coast of Turkey in the future. Thus, this area should be monitored establish with native and other non-indigenous goatfishes by further research.