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First confirmed record of Spearfish remora (Remora brachyptera) in the Mediterranean Sea

The Echeneidae or Remoras are a family of worldwide distributed marine fish species. They hitchhike by attaching themselves to sharks, rays, sea turtles and whales as well as ships and other floating objects via a suction disc, while some species are capable of swimming freely. Five of eight known species occur in the Mediterranean waters, belonging to two genera: Echeneis (E. naucrates) and Remora (R. australis, R. brachyptera, R. osteochir and R. remora). Although the presence of R. brachyptera in the Mediterranean is mentioned in the literature, absence of documented records resulted in exclusion of this species from the latest evidence-based checklist of Mediterranean fishes as its historical and contemporary presence in the Mediterranean could not be confirmed. The spearfish Remora, Remora brachyptera (Lowe, 1839) is an epipelagic species found in tropical to warm waters to a maximum depth of 200 m. This species can reach a total length of 50 cm, although most are no longer than 25 cm. The examined specimen of R. brachyptera was caught by the fisher in the central Adriatic Sea. The specimen was caught on 18th of June 2021 by trawl near Blitvenica Island at a depth of 150–200 m. The specimen was identified, measured, weighed, photographed and a tissue sample was taken for genetic analysis. Total length (TL) of the caught specimen was 17.3 cm, while fish weighed 21.7 g. Species identification was confirmed both morphologically and by genetic barcoding. This finding represents the first confirmed record of this species from the Mediterranean Sea.

Spearfish remora ; first record ; Mediterranean Sea ; Adriatic Sea

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