The first recorded occurrence of the mottled grouper, Mycteroperca rubra (Serranidae), in the Southeastern Adriatic sea

The proposition of Francour et al. (1994) that the Mediterranean Sea is warming is supported, at least circumstantially, by the accumulating observations of previously unrecorded tropical fish species in the generally subtropical and temperate waters of the Mediterranean. Groupers of the genus Mycteroperca are mainly tropical species; their occurrence in subtropical and temperate waters is limited. The Mottled Grouper is very common along the coast of Senegal and eastern Atlantic (Seret, 1981). However, the first signs of its expansion in the Mediterranean waters was reported almost 30-years ago (Tortonese, 1975). The present contribution describes the first record of the Mottled Grouper in the southeastern Adriatic Sea.Original Abstract: Le premier exemplaire de badeche rouge, Mycteroperca rubra, (poids = 381,5 g ; LT = 327 mm) a ete capture en mer Adriatique du sud-est, au large de Dubrovnik, Croatie (42,5øN), en septembre 2001. La presence de la badeche rouge dans les eaux de la mer Adriatique conforte l'hypothese du rechauffement actuel des eaux de la Mediterranee septentrionale.