UNUSUAL RECORD OF ROUND FANTAIL STINGRAY TAENIUROPS GRABATA (CHONDRICHTHYES: DASYATIDAE) FROM THE TUNISIAN COAST (CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN SEA)

This paper reports the capture of a specimen of round fantail stingray Taeniurops grabata (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) on the northern coast of Tunisia, caught in deep waters, at a depth of 450 m. It was a large specimen of 1.12 m in disc width, 2.70 m in total length and 110 kg in total body weight. This is the largest and heaviest specimen known to date in Tunisian waters, and probably in the Mediterranean and even outside it. Additionally, comments are given about the distribution of the species, well-known in the eastern Mediterranean Basin and eastern tropical Atlantic, but unknown in the western Mediterranean Basin.