Indian J. Fish., 46(2) : 195-198, Apr.-Jun., 1999 195 Note

First record of some fishes from Libyan waters L.A.J. AL-HASSAN Garyounis University, Benghazi, Libya ABSTRACT The Libyan coast of the Mediterranean is about 1,500 km including the bathy- metrical areas and closely associated with the major structural features of the African continent. The hydrological conditions of the region are dominated by the presence of three layers of water masses: the surface, the intermediate and the deep layer. Water temperature range from 23°C to 24°C.

Along the Libyan coast there are nean near the harbour area in 1996. At several coastal lagoons and ground the same time, several other fish species water springs. Among these is the like Parablennius incognitus (Bath, Tawargha lake in the northwestern 1968), 38 mm in TL, Paralipophrys coastal area of Libya. Salinity does not trigloides (Valenciennes, 1836) (Family, exceed 3g/l during the different seasons Blenniidae), Gobius fallax Sarato, 1889, of the year (Bufila and Pallas, 1978). 35 mm TL (Family, Gobiidae) and The ground water from this lake flows Triplerygion tripteronotus (Risso, 1810), all the way from Jabal Fazan (Fazan 36 mm TL (Family, Tripterygiidae) mountain) to 1,000 km in the south. were collected from the coast of Benghazi This water body is connected to the city by hand net. Mediterranean Sea after passing date palm farms in Misrata city, about Salaria pavo (Risso, 1810) was origi­ 200 km west of Tripoli. nally described by Risso in 1810. It was reported as Blennius pavo by several Two different environments are authors from different localities (Capello, present in this water body. The fresh­ 1867, 1880; Nombre, 1895; Bath, 1973; water environment near the outlet of Al-Meida, 1981). S. pavo was reported the ground water, and the marine by Al-Meida (1989), Goncalves (1990) environment at the connection with the and Oliveiria et al. (1992). The general Mediterranean Sea. Faunal surveys distribution of this species is in the have not been done in this area. Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and the Atlantic coasts from Morocco to the In April 1995, two specimens of south of Loire, France and the Suez Salaria pavo (Risso, 1810) (Family, Canal. Blenniidae) ranging in total length 45- 50 mm, were captured from lake Bath (1968) described Parablennius Tawargha, by hand net. Another speci­ incognitus from Isola delle Femine, men, 70mm TL was captured from Golfo di Castellamare and Sicily and the Benghazi city coast of the Mediterra­ species has subsequently been recorded L.A. Al-Hassan 196 from Canary Islands (Bath, 1973), species, like T. tripteronotus by Lowe Cameroon by Writz (Bath, 1990), Sea of (1838), T. nasus (Noronha and Sarmento, Marmara and from coast of Madera 1934), T. xanthosom (Zander and (Oliveiria et al., 1992). Heymer, 1971), and T. atlanticus (Wheeler and Dunne, 1975). The distri­ Paralipophrys trigloides (Valen­ bution of this species in the Mediterra­ ciennes, 1836) was described originally nean area is confined mainly to the by Valenciennes as Blennius trigloides northern part except for the Morocco, from Madeira in 1836 and later on from Algeria and Tunisian coasts. It is also Naples in 1837 and Nice in 1839. recorded from the Eastern Atlantic Oliveiria et al. (1992) reported this coast in the English Channel south­ species from the Portugeese waters as wards (Wirtz, 1990). Hence, it is re­ Lipophrys trigloides. This species is corded for the first time from Benghazi found in different parts of the Mediter­ coast of the Mediterranean. ranean but there is no record from the Libyan coasts and the southeastern The previous works of Contrasimex Mediterranean. It is also recorded from (1977), Sogreah (1977) and Zupanovic the sea of Marmara, along the coasts of and El-Buni (1982) on the ichthyological the Iberian Peninsula and France to the survey of the Libyan coasts did not mouth of the Gironde, along the eastern record the fish species mentioned in the Atlantic coast from Morocco and the present work. It may be due to the lack coast of Senegal and the Canary Islands of the experts that deal with the species (Bath, 1990). distribution in the area. As to the presence of S. pavo in lake Tawargha, Gobius fallax was recorded from the topography and the habitat of this Nice, France and subsequently from lake permit the introduction of the several other parts of the world. individuals of this species to the brack­ Kolombatovic (1891) described the spe­ ish water system found at the mixing cies as G. auratus from Yugoslavia. area of the lake and the sea. Ninni in 1938 recorded this species as G. buccichi from the Italian waters. Extensive faunal survey in the area Recently, Dooley et al. (1985) observed is needed to ascertain the several it from Canaries. Miller (1986) reported marine fish species present in the this species to occur only in a few areas lake. A comprehensive check-list of of the north Mediterranean, but in the fishes occurring in the inland water present work this species is recorded bodies and coastal areas of libya is from Benghazi coasts, Libya at the important for further ichthyological in­ south eastern Mediterranean area. Thus vestigations. it is considered as a first record of this species from the southern Mediterra­ Acknowledgments nean region. My sincere thanks are due to Dr. Tripterygion tripteronotus (Risso, Victor Springer of the Smithsonian 1810) was described originally as T. Institute, Washington, U.S.A., and delaisi Gadent and Blache, 1970 from Dr. Hans Bath for the identification of the Senegal coasts (Wirtz, 1990). Sev­ the fish species collected from Benghazi eral other names are given to this coasts, Libya. First record of some fishes 197

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