Relevant synonyms None Misidentification None Meristic formula D, 15; A, 14; P, 14-15; V, 6.  photo : David Darom

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body extremely elongated, becoming depressed after head, which is very long, more than 1/3 of SL. Snout tubular and long. Two lateral ridges on length of snout, with serration on posterior part. Small slightly oblique mouth at end of snout. Teeth very small. Interorbital space flat with delicate ridges. Dorsal and anal fins posterior in position, opposite each other. Caudal fin forked, with two very elongated and filamented middle rays. Skin smooth, without bony plates along the midline of the back. color : head, back and flank gray to olive-green (in Mediterranean; specimens from outside of the Mediterranean often have blue spots or stripes on back). size : common 20-100 cm (max. 150 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Fistularia petimba--bony plates along midline of back. Body shape and filamented middle rays distinguish this species from all other Mediterranean fishes. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Lives solitary or in small groups, near reefs. Feeds mainly on fish, which are caught by ambush or pursuit, as well as squids and shrimps. habitat : close vicinity of reefs.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Israel, 2000. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, including the coasts of Central and South America. Mediterranean : recorded first in Israel, caught by trawl at depths of 15-35 m (Golani, 2000). This species experienced a population explosion along the coast of Israel and subsequently spread westward. It has been recorded at Antalya, Turkey, the Island of Rhodes (Corsini et al., 2002) and Crete (Scazzocchio, pers. comm.); it has recently reached the shores of Southern Italy (Azzurro et al., 2004). Northern Sicily, Western Italy and Sardinia, Algeria, Almuñécar, Granada, Barcelona, Spain (Sánchez-Tocino et al., 2007); SE Adriatic Sea (Dulčić et al., 2007). More recently eastern Libya. ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Very common. speculated reasons for success : MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Azzurro E., Pizzicori F. and Andaloro F., 2004. First record of Fistularia commersonii (Fistularidae) from the central Mediterranean. Cybium, 28: 72-74. Corsini M., Kondilatos G. and Economidis P.S., 2002. Lessepsian migrant Fistularia commersonii from the Rhodes marine area. J. Fish Biol., 61: 1061-1061. Dulčić J., Scordella G. and Guidetti P., 2007. On the record of the Lessepsian migrant Fistularia commersonii (Rüppell, 1835) from the Adriatic Sea. J. Appl. Ichthyol., 24: 101-102. Fritzche R.A., 1976. A review of the cornetfishes, genus Fistularia (Fistularidae), with a discussion of intrageneric relationship and zoogeography. Bulletin of Marine Science, 26: 196-204.   Golani D., 2000. First record of the bluespotted cornetfish from the Mediterranean Sea. J. Fish Biol., 56: 1545-1547. Sánchez-Tocino, L., F. Hidalgo Puertas and M. Pontes. 2007. Primera cita de Fistularia commersonii Ruppell, 1838 (Osteichtyes: Fistulariidae) en aguas mediterráneas de la Península Ibérica. Zoologica Baetica 18: 79-84. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: November 2013 ©ciesm 2002