First occurrence of the Red Sea goatfish, Parupeneus forsskali (Fourmanoir Guz, 1976) in the coastal waters of Egyptian Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

This study discusses the first recorded occurrence of the Red Sea goatfish, Parupeneus forsskali in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters, to the best of the authors’ understanding. On 31 January 2016, a single specimen of this species was captured from Alexandria coastal waters (31°16'N; 30°10'E), Mediterranean Sea, Egypt. The collected specimen represents the first record of P. forsskali in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters. This specimen has a total length of 26.5 cm, fork length of 23.0 cm and standard length of 21.5 cm and weighed 228.4 g (total weight). The finding of this paper confirms the establishment of this Lessepsian immigrant along the eastern Mediterranean.   Key words: Parupeneus forsskali, Lessepsian immigrant, Mediterranean, Egypt.