Occurrence of Round Fantail Stingray Taeniurops Grabatus (chondrichthyes: Dasyatidae) from the Algerian Coast (southwestern Mediterranean Sea)

The authors report for the first time the capture of 4 specimens of round fail stingray Taeniurops grabatus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) from the eastern coast of Algeria. They are 2 large and 2 small specimens, suggesting that a viable population is progressively establishing in the area. The occurrence of these specimens is probably due to migrations from other southern areas such as the Tunisian coast where the species is captured in relative abundance. These migrations could be the result of global warming of the Mediterranean waters but also of a competitive pressure between dasyatid species inhabiting the same area. Additionally, these captures constitute the southwestern most extension range of the species in the Mediterranean Sea.