damages fishing gears by attacking fish, mainly cuttlefish Sepia officialis caught in nets,
and lines, cutting lines and nets using its strong teeth.
The resulting economic impacts were related to a reduction in the profitability of fishing
operations due to the deterioration in the quality of the catches and therefore the
reduction in their commercial value. Another issue mentioned by the fishers was the
costs of replacing damaged parts of the fishing gears.
Fig.1: Locations of LEK surveys in Norther Tunisia
Conclusion and discussions
The silver cheeked toadfish occurred in Tunisian waters for about a decade. The
species, despite being caught accidentally and in low abundance, seems to generate
negative interactions with the fishing gear, mainly on nets and lines used by small scale
fishers, generating reasonable concern and complaints. Similar results have been
reported in eastern Mediterranean, where the occurrence of L. sceleartus has negatively
affected fishing operations and incomes of small-scale fishers in Turkey (Ünal et al.,
2015), but also in Egypt, Lebanon, Cyprus and Greece (Nader et al., 2012).
Acknowledgement
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to all the fishermen for their support and for providing
us with necessary information.
Bibliography
BEN SOUISSI J., RIFI M., GHANEM R., GHOZZI L., BOUGHEDIR W., AZZURRO E. (2014) -
Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) expands through the African coasts towards the
Western Mediterranean Sea: a call for awareness. Management of Biological Invasions, 5(4),
357-362.
JRIBI I., BRADAI M.N. (2012) - First record of the Lessepsian migrant species Lagocephalus
sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) (Actinopterygii:Tetraodontidae) in the Central Mediterranean.
BioInvasions Records 1(1): 49–52, http://dx.doi.org/10.3391/bir.2012.1.1.11.
NADER M.R., INDARY S., BOUSTANY L. (2012) - FAO EastMed The Puffer Fish
Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) in the Eastern Mediterranean. GCP/INT/041/EC -
GRE-ITA/TD-10.
ÜNAL V., GÖNCÜOGLU H., DURGUN D., TOSUNOGLU Z., DEVAL M.C., TURAN C., (2015) -
Silvercheeked toadfish, Lagocephalus sceleratus (Actinopterygii: Tetraodontiformes:
Tetraodontidae), causes a substantial economic loss in the Turkish Mediterranean coast: a
call for decision makers. Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 45 (3), 231.
2nd Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species (Genoa, Italy, 22-23 September 2022)
102
and lines, cutting lines and nets using its strong teeth.
The resulting economic impacts were related to a reduction in the profitability of fishing
operations due to the deterioration in the quality of the catches and therefore the
reduction in their commercial value. Another issue mentioned by the fishers was the
costs of replacing damaged parts of the fishing gears.
Fig.1: Locations of LEK surveys in Norther Tunisia
Conclusion and discussions
The silver cheeked toadfish occurred in Tunisian waters for about a decade. The
species, despite being caught accidentally and in low abundance, seems to generate
negative interactions with the fishing gear, mainly on nets and lines used by small scale
fishers, generating reasonable concern and complaints. Similar results have been
reported in eastern Mediterranean, where the occurrence of L. sceleartus has negatively
affected fishing operations and incomes of small-scale fishers in Turkey (Ünal et al.,
2015), but also in Egypt, Lebanon, Cyprus and Greece (Nader et al., 2012).
Acknowledgement
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to all the fishermen for their support and for providing
us with necessary information.
Bibliography
BEN SOUISSI J., RIFI M., GHANEM R., GHOZZI L., BOUGHEDIR W., AZZURRO E. (2014) -
Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) expands through the African coasts towards the
Western Mediterranean Sea: a call for awareness. Management of Biological Invasions, 5(4),
357-362.
JRIBI I., BRADAI M.N. (2012) - First record of the Lessepsian migrant species Lagocephalus
sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) (Actinopterygii:Tetraodontidae) in the Central Mediterranean.
BioInvasions Records 1(1): 49–52, http://dx.doi.org/10.3391/bir.2012.1.1.11.
NADER M.R., INDARY S., BOUSTANY L. (2012) - FAO EastMed The Puffer Fish
Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) in the Eastern Mediterranean. GCP/INT/041/EC -
GRE-ITA/TD-10.
ÜNAL V., GÖNCÜOGLU H., DURGUN D., TOSUNOGLU Z., DEVAL M.C., TURAN C., (2015) -
Silvercheeked toadfish, Lagocephalus sceleratus (Actinopterygii: Tetraodontiformes:
Tetraodontidae), causes a substantial economic loss in the Turkish Mediterranean coast: a
call for decision makers. Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 45 (3), 231.
2nd Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species (Genoa, Italy, 22-23 September 2022)
102