Long journey of Lagocephalus sceleratus ( Gmelin , 1789 ) throughout the Mediterranean Sea

Lagocephalus sceleratus is widely distributed in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean as well as the Red Sea, and more recently in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea. L. sceleratus in the Mediterranean has been first recorded from Gökova Bay, southern Aegean Sea in 2003. Since then, this fish invaded rapidly whole Levantine basin, especially western and southern Anatolian coasts, Israel and Lebanon, Greek Islands in the Aegean Sea, especially Crete and Rhodes, Egypt and Libya. The northernmost records of L. sceleratus were given from the Adriatic Sea in both 2012 and 2013. Lately, the fish reached to Algeria and Spain in 2014. Along the Mediterranean, we have just gathered a total of 53 recording locations for L. sceleratus and this compilation work presents the update of the spreading of this invasive species throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Considering the recent locations where L. sceleratus has been recorded, we advise the regional fisheries management authorities that the problem of L. sceleratus is not only problem of the eastern Mediterranean anymore but also all Mediterranean marine ecosystem. Recent developments show that it is time to work on a guideline to monitor its impacts and mitigate the negative effects of this species in the Mediterranean.

L. sceleratus is widely distributed in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean as well as the Red Sea, and more recently in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea (Kara et al., 2015).First confirmed record of L. sceleratus (Figure 1) in the Mediterranean Sea has been given by Akyol et al. (2005) from Gökova Bay on 17 February 2003.Previously, Mouneimne (1977) recorded it as misidentification of the similar pufferfish L. suezensis (see, Golani, 1996).This compilation work presents the update of the spreading of this invasive species throughout the Mediterranean Sea.Where will it stop?
Since from the entrance to Mediterranean Sea, L. sceleratus as a rapid invader has been reached to Ibiza Strait (Spain) after 11 years (since 2003, see, Akyol et al., 2005).Apparently, the fish won't stop and continue towards to the Gibraltar.We will wait and see.Already, FishBase signs that this fish is likely to occurring along the Portugal, northern Spain and France, Morocco and western African coasts, even the Caribbean Sea and Brazilian and Argentina coasts as suitable habitats (Froese & Pauly, 2017).

Conclusion
L. sceleratus has been included in the black list as an one of the worst 18 invader fish species by the IUCN (Otero et al. 2013), and it is likely to out of the Mediterranean Sea; on the other words, it might be spreaded towards to Atlantic.In this wide area, it can be interested in for human consumption.Whereas, it is venomous to eat owing to contains lethal tetrodotoxin (TTX).Namely, it is a very dangerous fish to human health.For these reasons, this fish should be hunted and its population should be decreased under control.Another issue pertaining to this species is negative economic impacts on fishers owing to the fact that its damages to passive fishing gears and fish entangled in these fishing gears.Some studies (Ünal et al. 2015;Ünal & Göncüoğlu-Bodur, 2017) which have been focused on socioeconomic impacts of this species propose bounty system to encourage its fishing as well as to mitigate its impact on fishers.On the other hand, considering the recent locations where L. sceleratus has been recorded, we advise the regional fisheries management authorities that the problem of L. sceleratus is not only problem of the eastern Mediterranean anymore but also all Mediterranean marine ecosystem.Recent developments show that it is time to work on a guideline to monitor its impacts and mitigate the negative effects of this species in the Mediterranean Sea.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Lagocephalus sceleratus, recorded first in 2003 in the Mediterranean Sea

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Range expansion of Lagocephalus sceleratus in the Mediterranean Sea (the years in parenthesis show the starting point of each year)

Table 1 and
Figure 2 show the distribution of L. sceleratus throughout the Mediterranean Sea.