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Filling the gap: first confirmed record for the Ophisurus serpens (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) from the Anatolian coast of the South Aegean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2015

Halit Filiz ,
Celal Ateş ,
Sercan Yapici  and
Sevan Ağdamar
Halit Filiz
Affiliation:
Faculty of Fisheries, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48000 Kötekli, Muğla, Turkey
Celal Ateş
Affiliation:
Faculty of Fisheries, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48000 Kötekli, Muğla, Turkey
Sercan Yapici*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Fisheries, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48000 Kötekli, Muğla, Turkey
Sevan Ağdamar
Affiliation:
Faculty of Fisheries, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48000 Kötekli, Muğla, Turkey
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S. Yapıcı, Faculty of Fisheries, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, 48000 Kötekli, Muğla, Turkey email: sercanyapici@mu.edu.tr
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Abstract

The occurrence of the rare serpent eel Ophisurus serpens is reported here for the first time from the Anatolian coasts of the South Aegean Sea. On 5 January 2015, a single specimen with a total length of 121. 2 cm and 363.14 g was collected by seine boat off Gökova Bay, Turkey. This finding shows that its population is expanding southwards, from Izmir to the Anatolian coasts of the Aegean Sea.

Keywords

Aegean SeaAnatolian coastOphisurus serpensSerpent eel
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 8 , 2015 , e63
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

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