1 Historical records and new occurrence of the rare serpent eel Ophisurus serpens
2 (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Mediterranean Sea
3
4 Vasiliki Kousteni*and George Christidis
5
6 Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine
7 Research, 46.7 km Athens Sounio ave., P.O. Box 712, 19013 Anavyssos Attiki, Greece
8 *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected], Tel.: +302109856714
9
10 Abstract
11 A specimen of the serpent eel Ophisurus serpens (Order: Anguilliformes, Family:
12 Ophichthinae) reaching 2100 mm in total length was caught on 13 October 2017 by bottom
13 trawl at mean depth 206.5 m in Saronikos Gulf (central Aegean Sea, Greece). This specimen
14 is the second record in this area since 1979 and the largest specimen ever recorded in the eastern
15 Mediterranean Sea. Historical records of this rare species in the Mediterranean Sea are reported
16 and discussed.
17
18 Keywords: Ophisurus serpens; new record; Saronikos Gulf; eastern Mediterranean Sea
19
20 Introduction
21 The family Ophichthidae consists of 59 genera with about 290 species, from which only 8 have
22 been reported in the Mediterranean (Filiz et al., 2015). The serpent eel Ophisurus serpens
23 (Linnaeus, 1758) is a marine, brackish, reef-associated and benthic species living in sandy and
24 sandy-muddy bottoms up to 300 m in depth (Bauchot, 1986). It is widely distributed in the
25 eastern Atlantic (northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula to South Africa, including Madeira),
1
26 in the western Indian Ocean (Southern Mozambique to South Africa), and in the western
27 Pacific (Japan and Australasia) (Bauchot, 1986), although the western Pacific populations are
28 thought to belong to a co-generic species (Nakabo, 2002). Its first bibliographic record in the
29 eastern Atlantic dates back to 1866 and comes from the Galician waters (López-Seoane, 1866),
30 while after about 100 yrs it is reported for the first time in the western and central
31 Mediterranean (Dieuzeide, 1954; Lubet and Azzouz, 1969; Tortonese, 1970; Bauchot, 1986).
32 More recent records in this basin refer to: the Alboran Sea (Abad et al., 2007), the Ligurian Sea
33 (Relini et al., 2007), the Tuscan and Latium coasts of Italy (Biagi et al., 2002), the Tunisian
34 waters (Ben Amor et al., 2009, 2017; Rafrafi Nouira et al.,2015), the Adriatic Sea (Jardas,
35 1996; Dulcic et al., 2005; Bettoso and Comisso, 2015), the Ionian Sea (Maiorano et al., 2010),
36 and the Libyan coast (Al Hassan and El Silini, 1999; Shakman and Kinzelbach, 2007). In the
37 eastern Mediterranean, O. serpens has been recorded 8 times the last 50 yrs off the Turkish
38 coasts (Geldiay and Mater, 1968; Karakulak et al., 2006; Sangun et al., 2007; Cengiz et al.,
39 2011; Filiz et al., 2015; Torcu Koç and Erdogan, 2015; Ulaş and Akyol, 2015; Erguden et al.,
40 2016), while one record comes from Egypt (El Sayed, 1994) and only two records come from
41 the eastern Levantine (Golani, 1996; Dalianis et al., 2016). In the Greek waters, the species has
42 been reported only 4 times since its first record dated to 1973 in Korinthiakos Gulf (Kaspiris,
43 1973). The other Greek records include: the Ionian Sea (Kaspiris, 1984), the Evoikos Gulf
44 (Papaconstantinou et al., 1994; Stergiou et al., 1997), and the Saronikos Gulf
45 (Papaconstantinou and Tsimenidis, 1979).
46
47 Materials and methods
48 On 13 October 2017, one mature female O. serpens was captured by trawl between
49 37°51′10.8″N–37°52′12″N and 23°11′20.4″E–23°14′11.76″E in the Saronikos Gulf, at depths
50 between 200–213 m (Fig. 1). The field sampling was conducted in the frame of a research
2
51 programme (MINOUW) using the experimental bottom trawling vessel R/V Filia (HCMR)
52 equipped with a bottom trawl net of 22 mm square-mesh codend size. The haul duration was
53 61 min and the haul speed was set at 2.4 knots. Morphometric measurements were obtained
54 with digital calipers to the nearest 0.01 mm. Meristic characteristics included counts of fin rays
55 in dorsal, pectoral and anal fins, and counts of pores in the lateral line canal system and the
56 canals located on the head (ethmoid, infraorbital, supraorbital, preoperculo-mandibular and
57 supratemporal). Total weight, eviscerated weight, liver and gonad weight were recorded in
58 grammes. The specimen was preserved in 10% formalin and deposited in the Institute of
59 Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters (HCMR, Athens, Greece; Catalogue number:
60 HCMR OS01). The historical and present records of O. serpens in the Mediterranean were
61 mapped using the GIS software ArcView v10.4.
62
63 Results and Discussion
64 The historical and present records of the serpent eel Ophisurus serpens in the Mediterranean
65 Sea (Fig. 2) confirm the presence of the species in the whole basin with 17 records reported
66 either in the western-central part or in the eastern part. The present study reports a new record
67 of the species in the Saronikos Gulf (central Aegean Sea) where it was first reported 40 years
68 ago.
69 Ophisurus serpens was captured by bottom trawl in a sandy-muddy bottom, a habitat
70 where it is commonly found as supported by previous studies (e.g. Filiz et al., 2015; Ulaş and
71 Akyol, 2015). The mean depth of capture (206.5 m) was in the range of previously reported
72 depths where this species was found (Table I). With special regard to maximum body size,
73 Bauchot (1986) reported the largest specimen in the Mediterranean Sea reaching 2400 mm in
74 TL. The present study reports the largest specimen (2100 mm in TL) recorded in the eastern
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75 Mediterranean (Table 1), where the previously recorded largest specimen reached 2000 mm in
76 TL (Torcu Koç and Erdogan, 2015).
77 Morphometrics and meristics are in agreement with previous descriptions of the species
78 (Table 2). The species is characterized by elongated, cylindrical and scaleless body, relatively
79 small eyes, slender and conical snout with the upper jaw projecting, and elongate jaws that
80 extend posteriorly beyond the eye. It has large caniniform and curved teeth on premaxillae,
81 small and biserial teeth on maxillae, small and uniserial teeth on lower jaw, as well as uniserial
82 and enlarged anteriorly vomerine teeth. The dorsal, pectoral and anal fins are well developed,
83 while pelvic and caudal fins are absent. The origin of the dorsal fin is slightly posteriorly to the
84 pectoral fin and the anus is located in the anterior half of the body. Concerning coloration, the
85 body is brownish-olive dorsally, silvery with yellow iridescences ventrally, both dorsal and
86 anal fins have grey edges, and the pores are blackish. The observed number of pores in the
87 lateral line reach 200. In previous studies, the number of pores in the lateral line ranged between
88 149 in a small specimen reaching 333 mm in TL (Ben Amor et al., 2009) and 206 in a larger
89 specimen reaching 2000 mm in TL (Torcu Koç & Erdogan, 2015). A positive and significant
90 relationship was observed between the number of pores in the lateral line with body size (ln(α)
91 = 4.0684, b = 0.1634, R2 = 92.5, P-value = 0, N = 10) (Fig. 3).
92 Although Saronikos Gulf is one of the best monitored and studied marine areas in
93 Greece with a variety of fisheries taking place in the area (Karlou-Riga and Vrantzas, 2001),
94 no previous record of O. serpens has been reported, except that by Papaconstantinou and
95 Tsimenidis (1979). This supports the conclusion of the rarity of the species in this area.
96 However, no safe assumption could be made given the fact that the serpent eel has an extremely
97 elongate and cylindrical body and lives buried with only its head exposed (Jardas, 1996) that
98 makes it difficult to capture. Moreover, it has no commercial value and is likely discarded by
99 fishermen. Consequently, the species might be less rare than thought and its presence is
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100 probably underestimated. A targeted survey could better assess the effective presence and
101 abundance of O. serpens in the Saronikos Gulf and check the establishment of the species in
102 the area.
103
104 Acknowledgements: The field sampling was funded by the European Commission’s Horizon
105 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 634495 for the project
106 Science, Technology, and Society Initiative to minimize Unwanted Catches in European
107 Fisheries (MINOUW).
108
109 Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
110
111 Ethical Approval: This article does not contain any experimental studies with animals
112 performed by any of the authors.
113
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221 Figure 1 Legend Present record of Ophisurus serpens in the Saronikos Gulf (central Aegean
222 Sea).
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234 Figure 2 Legend Records of Ophisurus serpens in the Mediterranean Sea (W. Med., western
235 Mediterranean; C. Med., central Mediterranean; E. Med., eastern Mediterranean). The records
236 with known geographical position are represented with circles and those with unknown
237 geographical positions are represented with stars. More information about the species’ catches
238 is presented in Table 1.
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252 Figure 3 Legend Relationship between the number of pores in the body lateral line and the
253 total length (TL) of 10 specimens of Ophisurus serpens recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
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269 Tables
270 Table 1 Records (historical and present) of the serpent eel Ophisurus serpens in the Mediterranean Sea. Location Date Depth Gear Bottom type N TL (mm) LAT (DD) LONG (DD) Reference W Mediterranean Alboran Sea (Cantillo, Spain) Aug.–Jun. 2001 151–275 bottom trawl - - - 36.713 N -3.647 E Abad et al. (2007) W Mediterranean - 1986 - - - - 2400 - - Bauchot (1986) W Mediterranean Off Algeria 1954 ------Dieuzeide (1954) C Mediterranean Ligurian Sea (Loano, Italy) 1989–2004 - trammel net artificial reefs - - 44.191 N 9.333 E Relini et al. (2007) C Mediterranean Off Tuscany and Latium coasts (Italy) 1994–1997 - bottom trawl - - - 42.970 N 10.190 E Biagi et al. (2002) C Mediterranean Gulf of Trieste (N Adriatic Sea, Italy) 19 Nov. 2015 3 hydraulic dredge sandy 1 ~500 43.073 N 16.918 E Bettoso and Comisso (2015) C Mediterranean Adriatic Sea (Italy) ------Tortonese (1970) C Mediterranean Adriatic Sea (Italy) ------Perugia (1866) C Mediterranean Adriatic Sea (Italy) ------Jardas (1996) C Mediterranean Senjska Cove (C Adriatic, Croatia) Febr. 1991 - - - 1 2000 43.498 N 16.430 E Milišić (1994) C Mediterranean Sv. Fumijia Isl. (C Adriatic Sea, 20 Jul. 2005 40 longline sandy 2130 43.467 N 16.247 E Dulčiç et al. (2005) C Mediterranean Korinthiakos Gulf (Greece) 1973 ------Kaspiris (1973) C Mediterranean E Ionian Sea (Greece) 1984 ------Kaspiris (1984) C Mediterranean NW Ionian Sea (Italy) 1985–2008* 50–346 ------Maiorano et al. (2010) C Mediterranean Gulf of Tunis 1969 - - - 1 - 36.892 N 10.541 E Lubet and Azzouz (1969) C Mediterranean Southern Lagoon (Tunisia) 24 May 2006 2.1 dragnet sea grass bed 1 333 36.798 N 10.211 E Ben Amor et al. (2009) C Mediterranean N Cani Rocks (Tunisia) 16 Jun. 2014 45 trammel net rocky-sandy 1 1850 37.352 N 10.080 E Rafrafi Nouira et al. (2015) C Mediterranean Lagoon of Bizerte (Tunisia) 10 Jul. 2017 10 dragnet sea grass bed 1 1890 36.196 N 9.873 E Ben Amor et al. (2017) E Mediterranean Evoikos Gulf (C Aegean Sea, Greece) 1994 - - - - - 38.725 N 23.153 E Papaconstantinou et al. (1994) E Mediterranean Evoikos Gulf (C Aegean Sea, Greece) 18–25 Mar. 1994 73–210 bottom trawl - - - 38.747 N 23.141 E Stergiou et al. (1997) E Mediterranean Saronikos Gulf (C Aegean Sea, 1979 95 bottom trawl muddy 1 1380 37.839 N 23.552 E Papaconstantinou and Tsimenidis (1979) E Mediterranean Saronikos Gulf (C Aegean Sea, 13 Oct. 2017 200–213 bottom trawl sandy-muddy 1 2100 37.861 N 23.213 E Present study E Mediterranean Saros Bay (NE Aegean Sea, Turkey) 2005–2008 1–500 bottom trawl - 1 - 40.554 N 26.580 E Cengiz et al. (2011) E Mediterranean Gökçeada (NE Aegean Sea, Turkey) 2004–2005 <30 gill net, trammel net - 2 1580, 1692 40.253 N 25.810 E Karakulak et al. (2006) E Mediterranean Edremit Bay (NE Aegean Sea, 15 Jan. 2014 40 longline - 1 2000 39.550 N 26.617 E Torcu Koç and Erdogan (2015) E Mediterranean İzmir Bay(NE Aegean Sea, Turkey) 27 Aug. 1996 35–40 lift net - 1 - 38.449 N 26.838 E Geldiay and Mater (1968) E Mediterranean Karaburun (NE Aegean Sea, Turkey) 2 Mar. 2014 32 handline sandy 1 1917 38.695 N 26.375 E Ulaş and Akyol (2015) E Mediterranean Gokova Bay (SE Aegean Sea, Turkey) 5 Jan. 2015 55 purse seine sandy-muddy 1 1212 36.983 N 27.883 E Filiz et al. (2015) E Mediterranean Mersin Bay (N Levantine, Turkey) 6 Nov. 2014 492 bottom trawl - 1 1902 36.305 N 34.322 E Erguden et al. (2016) E Mediterranean Iskenderun Bay (N Levantine, Turkey) 2001–2003 5–100 bottom trawl - 41 121-501 36.639 N 36.138 E Sangun et al. (2007) E Mediterranean Beirut (E Levantine, Lebanon) Febr. 2007 200 bottom trawl muddy 1 - 33.937 N 35.530 E Dalianis et al. (2016) SE Mediterranean E Levantine 1996 ------Golani (1996) SE Mediterranean Off Egypt (S Levantin) 1994 - - - - - 31.159 N 28.092 E El Sayed (1994) S Mediterranean Off Benghazi, Libya (S Levantin) 1999 - - - - - 38.650 N 26.367 E Al Hassan and El Silini (1999) S Mediterranean Off Libya (S Levantine) 2007 - - - - - 30.538 N 19.149 E Shakman and Kinzelbach ( 2007) N, number of individuals; LAT, latitude; LONG, longitude; DD, decimal degrees; -, not specified; *, the exact year of capture is not known; Accurate geographic positions (LAT and LONG) are indicated with bold characters, while the 271 remaining ones were determined approximately considering the sampling location; in cases where the exaxt sampling location was not known LAT and LONG are not given
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272 Table 2 Morphometrics (in mm, %Total length, %Head length in bold) and meristics of Ophisurus serpens in the Mediterranean Sea. Saronikos Gulf Off Sv. Fumijia Isl. Southern Lagoon of Edremit Bay Karaburun Gokova Bay Mersin Bay N Cani Rocks Location (C Aegean Sea, (C Adriatic Sea, Lagoon Bizerte (NE Aegean Sea, (NE Aegean Sea, (SE Aegean Sea, (N Levantine, (Tunisia) Greece) Italy) (Tunisia) (Tunisia) Turkey) Turkey) Turkey) Turkey) Dulcic et al. Ben Amor Rafrafi Nouira Ben Amor Torcu Koç & Ulaş & Akyol Filiz et al. Erguden et al. Reference Present Study (2005) et al. (2009) et al. (2015) et al. (2017) Erdogan (2015) (2015) (2015) (2016) Morphometrics mm (%TL) mm (%TL) mm (%TL) mm (%TL) mm (%TL) mm (%TL) mm (%TL) mm (%TL) mm (%TL) Head Head length 172.00 (8.20) 155.00 (7.28) 42.00 (12.61) 118.00 (6.38) 149.00 (7.88) 152.00 (7.60) 158.00 (8.24) 93.00 (7.67) 148.51 (7.81) Snout length 45.00 (26.16) ------Interorbital distance 20.25 (11.77) 18.00 (11.61) 3.00 (7.14) 11.00 (9.32) 12.00 (8.05) 11.00 (7.24) - - - Eye diameter 12.47 (7.25) 12.00 (7.74) 2.00 (4.76) 13.00 (11.02) 10.00 (6.71) 10.00 (6.58) 10.00 (6.30) 5.40 (5.80) 10.26 (6.91) Eye height 8.96 (5.21) ------Upper jaw length 91.83 (53.39) - - 89.00 (75.42) - - - - - Lower jaw length 84.53 (49.15) 83.00 (53.55) 20.00 (47.62) 83.00 (70.34) 92.00 (61.74) 96.00 (63.16) - - - Mouth length 79.10 (45.99) ------Gill slit length 29.03 (16.88) ------Preorbital length 45.64 (26.53) 54.00 (34.84) 4.00 (9.52) 40.00 (33.90) 46.00 (30.87) 49.00 (32.24) 47.00 (29.70) 24.10 (25.90) 38.42 (25.87) Postorbital length 55.27 (32.13) ------Fins Dorsal fin length 1785.00 (85.00) 1860.00 (87.32) 225.00 (67.57) 1600.00 (86.49) 1670.00 (88.36) 170.00 (85.00) - - - Pectoral fin length 32.00 (1.52) 40.00 (1.88) 5.00 (1.50) 15.00 (0.81) 36.00 (1.90) 37.00 (1.85) - - - Anal fin length 1280.00 (60.95) 1300.00 (61.03) 177.00 (53.15) 1085.00 (58.65) 1190.00 (62.96) 1220.00 (61.00) - - - Body Predorsal length 250.00 (11.90) 220.00 (10.33) 48.00 (14.41) 210.00 (11.35) 225.00 (11.90) 250.00 (12.50) 228.00 (11.89) 136.00 (11.22) 214.00 (11.25) Prepectoral length 167.00 (7.95) 160.00 (7.51) 31.00 (9.31) 151.00 (8.16) 160.00 (8.47) 170.00 (8.50) - - - Preanus length 777.00 (37.00) ------Preanal length 792.00 (37.71) 770.00 (36.15) 143.00 (42.94) 700.00 (37.84) 730.00 (38.62) 750.00 (37.50) 735.00 (38.34) 446.00 (36.80) 718.00 (37.75) Body depth 44.46 (2.12) 65.00 (3.05) 8.00 (2.40) 51.00 (2.76) 35.00 (1.85) 35.00 (1.75) 30.00 (1.56) 22.00 (1.82) 39.61 (2.08) Body width 43.62 (2.08) ------Meristics-Rays Dorsal fin rays 497 - - - - - 443 422 465 Pectoral fin rays 14 - - 14 15 15 14 14 13 Anal fin rays 310 - - - - - 305 234 284 Meristics-Pores Body lateral line (total) 200 202 149 202 201 206 191 195 205 Lateral line (prepectoral) 8 - - - 9 8--9 - - - Lateral line (preanal) 74 - - - 72 73 - - - Ethmoid 1 ------Supraorbital 4 ------Infraorbital 7 ------Preoperculo-mandibular 9 ------Supratemporal 2 ------Other Total length (mm) 2100.00 2130.00 333.00 1850.00 1890.00 2000.00 1917.00 1212.00 1902.00 Total/Eviscerated weight (g) 1653/1500 - 11.79/10.36 2011.00 1095.90 - 1880.00 363.14 1320.00 Liver/Gonad weight (g) 24.10/9.50 - 0.20/0.20 ------
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