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Fig. 13: The dusky rabbitfish S. luridus caught on December 12th 2016, out off the coasts of Ugento, southern Apulia, Italy, Ionian
Sea (Photo: R. Gennaio).

3.8 First documented record of Siganus luridus in the Calabrian Ionian Sea
F. Tiralongo & S. Tirnetta

ly small-sized fish (maximum total length about 30 cm),
and feeds mainly on benthic algae. In southern Italy, the
species is successfully established in the Strait of Sicily
(Azzurro & Andaloro, 2004); a single specimen was re-
corded in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea in 2004 (Castriota
& Andaloro, 2008) and another specimen in the Strait of
Messina in 2015 (Cavallaro et al., 2016).
On November 5 2016, two specimens of S. luridus
th

of similar size (about 15 cm) (Fig. 14) were observed at a
depth of 5 m during SCUBA dives in the marine protected
area of Capo Rizzuto, northern Ionian Sea (Italy, Calabria,
Crotone) (38.98302° N, 17.16161° E), on a mixed bottom
(sand and rocks) partially covered by scattered patches of
Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile. The most abundant
fishes in the area were Sarpa salpa (Linnaeus, 1758) and
Sparisoma cretense (Linnaeus, 1758), both known to share
similar behavioural and ecological characteristics with S.
luridus (Azzurro et al., 2007 and references therein).
This study represents the first documented record of S.
luridus in the Calabrian Ionian Sea, being already reported
from the area in the grey literature (Rocca, 2007). Based
Fig. 14: A and B, the two specimens of Siganus luridus ob- on the recent records from nearby locations of the southern
served in Calabria (northern Ionian Sea). Tyrrhenian Sea and the Strait of Messina, and considering
Siganus luridus, commonly known as dusky spine- the invasive behaviour of this species, we can expect a fur-
foot, is native of the western Indian Ocean. It is a relative- ther spread and establishment of S. luridus in nearby areas.

190 Medit. Mar. Sci., 18/1, 2017, 179-201