Page 21 - Invasive_Species_2013

Fistularia commersonii. Photo: G. Pergent

Range shifts among marine flora and the canal) have been recorded in the Mediterranean. Along
fauna the French coast in the north-western Mediterranean, the
farthest point from the Suez Canal, only two Lessepsian
There is good evidence that the species composition of the species (Fistularia commersonii and Siganus luridus) have
western Mediterranean fish fauna has changed over the last so far been recorded. These two species display different
decade: some species introduced from the Red Sea that are patterns of colonization (Table 1).
well established within the eastern Mediterranean basin have
started to spread into the western basin. At the same time,
Siganus luridus is a species usually found in the western
some Atlantic species have passed through the Gibraltar
Indian Ocean and Red Sea. It was first recorded in the
Strait and into the western basin.
Mediterranean in 1956 and progressively continued its
geographical expansion through the eastern basin. It
Fish introduced through the Suez Canal reached north-eastern Tunisia around 1970, but crossed
Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, more than 80 the Strait of Sicily only in 2004; it reached the French
Lessepsian fish species (species that have spread through coast in 2008 (Daniel et al., 2009).

COLLECTION 18