Terapon jarbua (Fabricius, 1775)

Esmaeili, Hamid Reza & Hamidan, Neshat, 2023, Inland fishes of the Arabian Peninsula: Review and a revised checklist, Zootaxa 5330 (2), pp. 201-226 : 219-220

48. Terapon jarbua (Fabricius, 1775) ―Tiger Perch, Jarbua Terapon― Native

Taxonomy. Original description: Sciaena jarbua Fabricius, 1775 : xii, 44, 50 [ from Djiddae (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea); Lectotype: ZMUC P43571 (dry skin) ]. Synonyms: Holocentrus servus Bloch, 1790 ; Terapon timoriensis Quoy & Gaimard, 1825 ; Coius trivittatus Hamilton, 1822 .

Status in the Arabian Peninsula. Recorded from Saudi Arabia in original description by Fabricius (1775); confirmed by Al-Kahem-Al-Balawi et al. (2008), Freyhof et al. (2020) Esmaeili et al. (2022).

General distribution. Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, Socotra, Madagascar, western Mascarenes (now extinct in Réunion) and Persian Gulf east to Palau, Samoa and Tonga, north to southern Korea and central Japan, south to Western Australia, New South Wales ( Australia); Mediterranean Sea (immigrant through Suez Canal). Habitat: freshwater, brackish, marine.

Distribution in the Arabian Peninsula. Coastal area of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman. Oman: Al Bahayes and Wadi Al Athaiba, Muscat Governorate, and Mugsail and Raysut, Dhofar Governorate.

Economic importance. Commercially important.

Conservation. Least Concern (LC).

Based on the updated checklist, for the first time, we report and confirm the presence of Favonigobius reichei ( Gobiiformes : Gobiidae ). Recently, other species viz. Chanos chanos ( Gonorynchiformes : Chanidae ), Eleotris acanthopomus ( Gobiiformes : Eleotridae ), Ambassis gymnocephalus ( Cichliformes : Ambassidae ), and Planiliza macrolepis ( Mugiliformes : Mugilidae ) in inland waters of Oman. The most diverse order is Cypriniformes (19 species, 39.6%), followed by Cyprinodontiformes and Gobiiformes (eight species, 16.7% each), Cichliformes (four species, 8.33%), Mugiliformes (three species, 6.25%), Anguilliformes and Siluriformes (two species, 4.17% each), and Centrarchiformes and Gonorynchiformes (one species, 4.17% each). The fish fauna includes 38 (72.2%) native and 10 (20.8%) exotic/alien species. Out of 38 native species, 21 species (52.26%) are endemic fishes that are restricted to the Arabian Peninsula territory only. Saudi Arabia and Oman with 23 species (47.9% each) rank first in fish diversity (both native and exotic), followed by Yemen (15 species, 31.25%), UAE (seven species, 14.58%), Bahrain (two species, 4.17%), and Qatar and Kuwait (one species, 2.1% each). Of 21 endemic species of the Arabian Peninsula, six, six, and four species are restricted to the territories of Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen respectively. No endemic fish have been reported from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Arabian Peninsula has experienced introductions of non-native fishes (exotic/alien). Currently, there are 10 alien species introduced intentionally or accidentally that comprise 20.8% of all inland fish fauna ( Table 1 ). These include the catfishes Clarias gariepinus , and Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus x Pterygoplichthys pardalis , the poeciliids Gambusia holbrooki , Poecilia latipinna , P. reticulata , P. sphenops , and Xiphophorus maculatus , and the cichlids Oreochromis aureus , O. mossambicus , and O. niloticus . Some species including G. holbrooki , P. latipinna , and O. niloticus have established breeding populations in the Arabian Peninsula and have become invasive. Out of 10 recorded exotic fishes, Saudi Arabia comprises 10 (100%), UAE three (30%), Oman two (20%), and Bahrain one (10%) species. There are reports of several other exotic fishes that are most common “global invaders” such as the cyprinids Carassius auratus , Cyprinus carpio , and Pseudorasbora parva , the cichlids Coptodon zillii , and Oreochromis spilurus ( Freyhof et al. 2015) . The establishment of these alien species should be confirmed.

The inland ichthyofauna comprises one Critically Endangered (CR), nine Endangered (EN), two Vulnerable (VU), three Near Threatened (NT), 27 Least Concern (LC), and two Not Evaluated (NE) species.