DASYATIDAE

Dasyatis marmorata (Steindachner, 1892), was reported firstly in the Gulf of Gabes (south Tunisia) by Maurin and Bonnet (1970) as D. pastinaca var. marmorata; the presence of this taxon in south Tunisia was confirmed by Quignard and Capapé (1971) and included in the Mediterranean ichthyofauna by Quignard and Tomasini (2000). Later the species was considered as synonym of D. chrysonota and recorded under this name in the eastern and central Mediterranean by Golani and Capapè (2004) and El Kamel et al. (2009), respectively. However, in the upcoming volume dealing with batoid fishes of the Food and Agricolture Organisation Species Identification Field Guide for Fishery Purposes (Séret, in press), D. marmorata is considered a species of West Africa and Mediterranean and D. chrysonota a South African species; nevertheless a genetic study is needed to reaffirm the validity of D. marmorata and redefine the two species (see also Bradai et al., 2010).

Dasyatis tortonesei Capapé, 1975, is considered dubious by Compagno (1999) and excluded by Serena (2005) from the “Field identification guide to sharks and rays of the Mediterranean and Black Sea”. Morphometric and meristic data along with parasitological studies on individuals collected in the Gulf of Gabes, seem to indicate that D. tortonesei is a valid species distinguished from D. pastinaca (Bradai et al., 2010) .