First mediterranean records of spinetail devil ray, Mobula Japanica (Elasmobranchii: Rajiformes: Mobulidae)

Abstract

Captures of 11 spinetail devil rays, Mobula japanica (Müller et Henle, 1841), from the northern coast of Tunisian (central Mediterranean) are reported in the present paper. Of these 11 specimens, five specimens were described. These captures constitute the first records of the species in the Tunisian waters, but also in the Mediterranean Sea, extending its distribution. This unusual occurrence of M. japanica is probably due to a migration from the eastern tropical Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar.