Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 40(2): 101-104, doi: 10.3750/AIP2010.40.2.01
Occurrence of barred knifejaw, Oplegnathus fasciatus (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Oplegnathidae), in Malta (Central Mediterranean) with a discussion on possible modes of entry
P.J. Schembri, P. Bodilis, J. Evans, P. FrancourCorresponding author: P.J. Schembri © P.J. Schembri, P. Bodilis, J. Evans, P. Francour. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Schembri P, Bodilis P, Evans J, Francour P (2010) Occurrence of barred knifejaw, Oplegnathus fasciatus (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Oplegnathidae), in Malta (Central Mediterranean) with a discussion on possible modes of entry. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 40(2): 101-104. https://doi.org/10.3750/AIP2010.40.2.01 |  |
Abstract
The barred knifejaw, Oplegnathus fasciatus (Temminck et Schlegel, 1844), a species native to the North Western and Eastern Central Pacific, is recorded from the central Mediterranean for the first time. Two individuals were photographed within a month of each other in Grand Harbour and in Marsamxett Harbour, Malta. It seems likely that the fish were introduced by shipping and different scenarios how this may have happened are discussed.
Keywords
barred knifejaw, non-indigenous species, shipping, Mediterranean, Maltese Islands