Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 45(1): 103-108, doi: 10.3750/AIP2015.45.1.13
Range expansion of an invasive pufferfish, Lagocephalus sceleratus (Actinopterygii: Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae), to the south-western Mediterranean
M.H. Kara, E. Ben Lamine, P. FrancourCorresponding author: M.H. Kara © M.H. Kara, E. Ben Lamine, 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:
Kara M, Ben Lamine E, Francour P (2015) Range expansion of an invasive pufferfish, Lagocephalus sceleratus (Actinopterygii: Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae), to the south-western Mediterranean. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 45(1): 103-108. https://doi.org/10.3750/AIP2015.45.1.13 |  |
Abstract
Three specimens of silver-cheeked toadfish, Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789), were caught on eastern coasts of Algeria during the winter of 2013–2014. This is the first record of this invasive species from Algeria, providing further evidence of its occurrence along north-African coasts and confirming its entry into the Western basin of the Mediterranean. The human-health implications of this toxic fish in this region are discussed.
Keywords
fish, Lessepsian migrant, silver-cheeked toadfish, giant toadfish, silverside blaasop, spotted rough-backed blowfish, alien, non-indigenous species, Algeria