Excluded species

List of excluded species

TORPEDINIDAE

  • Torpedo alexandrinsis

Described from five individuals found near Alexandria in Egypt, several authors agree to qualify this species as invalid for Mediterranean Sea – while the hypothesis of its presence in the Red Sea remains unsolved (Serena et al., 2020).

  • Torpedo fuscomaculata

Present in the Southeast Atlantic and Western Indian Ocean, the presence of this species in the Mediterranean Sea was suggested following only one ancient record in Alexandria and a mention in Turkish waters (that could both be a misidentification with T. marmorata due to similar dorsal patterns; Serena 2005, Serena et al. 2020).

RAJIDAE

  • Raja mauritaniensis (formerly Raja africana)

The validity of the species Raja africana, recently renamed Raja mauritanisensis (White & Fricke, 2021), was questioned by Compagno (1999) and indicated as a not valid species (Serena 2005, Serena et al. 2020) due to lack of evidence such as genetic analysis. However, the species was cited for the Algerian basin (Hemida et al., 2007), prudently included in the checklist of elasmobranchs occurring in the Mediterranean Sea (Bradai et al., 2010) and considered as a valid species in 2014 for the Sicily channel / Tunisian plateau regions until further investigation.

DASYATIDAE

  • Bathytoshia centroura

Originally falsely recorded in the Mediterranean, molecular data showed that its true distribution is limited to the western Atlantic (Last et al. 2016a,b). The species present in the Mediterranean Sea was none other than Bathytoshia lata.

  • Dasyatis chrysonota

After several studies, it appeared that D. chrysonota and D. marmorata are two distinct species with different geographical distribution and that only the latter is present in the Mediterranean Sea (Last et al. 2016a, Serena et al. 2020).

References

• Compagno L.J.V. 2005. Checklist of Living Chondrichthyes. In Hamlett W.C. ed: Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Chondrichthyes: Sharks, Batoids, and Chimaeras, pp: 501–548. New Hampshire: Science Publishers.
• Hemida F., Sergoua W., Seridji R. 2007. Nouvelle liste commentée des raies du bassin algérien. Rapport de la Commission Internationale pour l’Exploration de la Mer Méditerranée 38: 497.
• Last P.R., White W., De Carvalho M., Séret B., Stehmann M., Naylor G.J.P. 2016a. Rays of the world. CSIRO Publishing, Australia, 832 pp.
• Last P.R., Naylor G.J.P., Manjaji-Matsumoto B.M. 2016b. A revised classification of the family Dasyatidae (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes) based on new morphological and molecular insights. Zootaxa 4139: 345-368.
• Serena F. 2005. Field identification guide to sharks and rays of Mediterranean and Black Sea. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purpose. Rome: 97pp.
• Serena F., Abella A. J., Bargnesi F., Barone M., Colloca F., Ferretti F., Fiorentino F., Jenrette J. & Moro S. 2020. Species diversity, taxonomy and distribution of Chondrichthyes in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. The European Zoological Journal 87(1): 497-536.
• UNEP-MAP-RAC/SPA. 2014. Status and conservation of fisheries in the Sicily Channel/ Tunisian Plateau. By H. Farrugio & Alen Soldo. Draft internal report for the purposes of the Mediterranean Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, Malaga, Spain, 7-11 April 2014.
• White W. T., Fricke R. 2021. Raja mauritaniensis: a replacement name for Raja africana Capapé, 1977 (Rajiformes: Rajidae), a junior homonym of Raja africana Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae). Zootaxa 4970(2): 399-400.