CARCHARHINIDAE

Psomadakis, Peter Nick, Giustino, Stefano & Vacchi, Marino, 2012, Mediterranean fish biodiversity: an updated inventory with focus on the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas, Zootaxa 3263, pp. 1-46 : 14

CARCHARHINIDAE

Carcharhinus amboinensis (Müller & Henle, 1839) , was recorded in the Mediterranean on the basis of the examination of a set of jaws extracted from a large requiem shark caught off Crotone, Italy (north-west Ionian Sea) ( De Maddalena & Della Rovere, 2005). The validity of the present record is questioned by Bradai et al. (2010) and by Golani (2010). According to capture data in the North-eastern Atlantic ( Moreno Garcia, 1982), the species may occupy a wider range than previously supposed and its finding in the western Mediterranean as Atlantic stray cannot be excluded.

Carcharhinus longimanus (Poey, 1861) , is a doubtful species in the Mediterranean ( Branstetter, 1984); it is considered as “possible” by Compagno (1984) but no specimens of this species are available to confirm its presence in this sea ( Garrick, 1982). It is not included in the lists of Tortonese (1963), Serena (2005) and Bradai et al. (2010).

Carcharhinus melanopterus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) , was firstly reported on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt by Tortonese (1951) on the basis of information received verbally from Professor Melouk of University of Cairo. Ben Tuvia (1966) considered Tortonese’s record to be doubtful because of possible confusion between melanopterus and other black-tipped sharks occurring in the Mediterranean. Quignard and Capapé (1971) identified the species from south Tunisia but no descriptive details were provided. Despite these uncertainties, the occurrence of C. melanopterus as Lessepsian immigrant has been cited in major works ( Branstetter, 1984; Compagno, 1984). The species was not included in the Lessepsian immigrant group by Quignard and Tomasini (2000) and excluded from the list of exotic species in the Mediterranean by Golani et al. (2002) and by Zenetos et al. (2010). However, Bradai et al. (2002) confirm the presence of this species in south Tunisia on the basis of a male specimen captured on December 1993 in the Gulf of Gabes (see also Bradai et al., 2010). Doubtless this identification is correct but it is currently best to refrain from including C. melanopterus in the official list of the Mediterranean ichthyofauna until a specimen will be available for confirmation.