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The bony fish Lophotus lacepede (Giorna, 1809) and Zu cristatus (Bonelli, 1819) are the two species rarely recorded within the Mediterranean basin, usually reported as accidentally captured in depth (mesopelagic) fishing operations. In the current work, we present the first record of L. lacepede and Z. cristatus in fishing catches from southwestern Tyrrhenian Sea. Moreover, in order to improve existent biological/ ecological knowledge, some bio-related aspects such as feeding aspect, sexual maturity and age estimate have been discussed.

A single specimen of the mesopelagic Lophotus lacepede Giorna, 1809 was obtained from Gökova Bay (southern Aegean Sea) for the first time. Previous records of the species were confined to the western Mediterranean; its occurrence at Turkish seas extends its distribution range to the eastern Mediterranean., Mezopelajik Lophotus lacepedei Giorna, 1809 türüne ait bir örnek Gökova Körfezi’nden (güney Ege Denizi) ilk defa elde edilmiştir. Daha önceki kayıtlarda sadece batı Akdeniz’de yayılım gösterdiği bilinen türün Türkiye kıyılarından bulunmasıyla birlikte dağılım sınırları doğu Akdeniz’e genişlemiştir.

The marine region of the Dodecanese Islands (Greece) is heavily affected by climate changes, intensification of anthropogenic interferences and biological invasions. Its ichthyofauna diversity is still poorly known, despite the development of marine research during the last decades, both in shallow and deep waters, and the increasing interest of fishermen to biodiversity knowledge and conservation. Regardless of its oligotrophic character, with only 1-3 % of the total Greek fishery production (ELSTAT, 2015), at least 60 % of the total fish species known in the Hellenic seas (510) has been recorded in the area (Papaconstantinou, 2014). Between 2009 and 2014, 14 uncommon species - Alopias superciliosus, Gymnura altavela, Aulopus filamentosus, Sudis hyalina, Gymnothorax unicolor, Ophisurus serpens, Nemichthys scolopaceus, Lophotus lacepede, Naucrates ductor, Alectis alexandrinus, Brama brama, Pomadasys incisus, Schedophilus ovalis and Mola mola - were captured. The first records of P. incisus and S. ovalis in the area significantly enlarge their known distribution in the Hellenic Aegean waters (Papaconstantinou, 2014). The capture of L. lacepede (approx. 140 cm total length) in Patmos (2011) confirms the occurrence of this rare species in the Dodecanese, given that a juvenile is preserved at the Hydrobiological Station of Rhodes since the 1950s, and constitutes the third official record in the Aegean waters, after Gökova Bay and Chalkidiki findings (Bilecenoğlu et al., 2001; Minos et al., 2013). The captures of S. hyalina (2011) and N. scolopaceus (2014) confirm their occurrence some years after their first reports in the same area in 2004 and 2002 respectively (Corsini-Foka, 2009). The occurrence of A. superciliosus, a species infrequent in local fishery, is poorly documented in the Mediterranean and the species is considered scarce or rare in the basin (Madiraca and Davidov, 2015). The scattered records of the remaining above species contribute to monitor their presence in local fishery. Apart from A. filamentosus caught at 200 m and S. hyalina and B. brama from 400-500 m of depth, all the other species were collected between surface and 70 m. The above records contribute to fill gaps on the knowledge of rarely caught native fish distribution, improving assessment of the whole Hellenic biodiversity.

* Lophotus lacepede Giorna, 1809 – Crested oarfish; ①③, Published as part of Carneiro, Miguel, Martins, Rogélia, Landi, Monica & Costa, Filipe O., 2014, Updated checklist of marine fishes (Chordata: Craniata) from Portugal and the proposed extension of the Portuguese continental shelf, pp. 1-73 in European Journal of Taxonomy 73 on page 34, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2014.73, http://zenodo.org/record/3866515

Specimens of Lophotus lacepede Giorna, 1809 and Lampris guttatus (Brünnich, 1788) were collected in the south Adriatic Sea. L. lacepede was collected in Kupari (♀, TL = 139 cm, W = 5.4 kg) on October, 2011 and L. guttatus was collected in Mali ston Bay (♀, TL = 88 cm, W = 20 kg) on January 2012. Both species are very rare in the Adriatic Sea.

One specimen of crested oarfish, Lophotus lacepede (male, mature), with total length TL=167 cm and weight 10, 1 kg was captured in the eastern Adriatic (islet Brušnjak) on 20th January 2006. This record represents the northernmost record for thisspecies in the Mediterranean area.

In this paper the status of crested oarfish Lophotus lacepede Giorna, 1809 (Pisces: Lophotidae) is checked with precise information from records of this species in the Adriatic Sea. According to presented data it was concluded that just five confirmed records were noted in the Adriatic Sea. Finally, it should be noted that the crested oarfish is very rare species in the Adriatic Sea., U ovom radu je obavljena analiza broja ulovljenih jedinki britke jedroglavke Lophotus lacepede Giorna, 1809 (Pisces: Lophotidae) uz pregled točnih i potvrdnih nalaza ove vrste u Jadranu. Suglasno dobivenim rezultatima može se zaključiti da je do sada potvrđeno samo pet nalaza ove vrste u Jadranu. Na kraju, može se na osnovi broja potvrdnih nalaza utvrditi da je ova vrsta vrlo rijetka za Jadran.

In this paper the status of crested oarfish Lophotus lacepede Giorba, 1809 (Pisces: Lophotidae) is checked with precise information from records of this species in the Adriatic sea. According to presented data it was concluded that just five confirmed records were noted in the Adriatic Sea. Finally, it should be noted that crested oarfish is very rare species in the Adriatic sea.