Chelon auratus ( Risso, 1810 )

Saad, Adib, Çiçek, Erdoğan, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil & Eagderi, Soheil, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Syria: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5350 (1), pp. 1-62 : 44

Chelon auratus ( Risso, 1810) [N]—Golden grey mullet; Bouri dehban

Taxonomy. Original description: Mugil auratus Risso, 1810: 344 [Nice, France, northwestern Mediterranean Sea; no types known].—Syrian synonyms: Planiliza aurata ( Risso, 1810) ; Liza aurata ( Risso, 1810) .—Revisions: Durand & Borsa (2015: 268).—Illustration: Ben-Tuvia in Whitehead et al. (1986: 1199, fig.).

Status in Syria. First record from Syria by Beckman (1962: 160) as Liza auratus ; confirmed by Saad (2005).— Syrian material: MSL.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Syria:Mediterranean watersheds.—Distribution in River Basin:4-Orontes, 6-Coastal.—General distribution: Western Baltic Sea; North Sea; Mediterranean Sea; Sea of Marmara; Black Sea; Sea of Azov; eastern Atlantic: Scotland south to Senegal, including Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde Islands (introduced elsewhere).—Distribution in Ecoregion: 436-Coastal Levant, 437-Orontes.—Habitat: This species is pelagic, near shore, sometimes in lagoons and estuaries, rarely in freshwaters. Among the Mugilidae recorded from freshwaters, this is the least tolerant of the freshwaters. It pawns at sea. Freshwater, brackish, marine.

Economic importance. Commercially important.

Conservation. Conservation status in Syria: Unknown.—IUCN: LC ( IUCN 2023).—Threats: No major threats known.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered as a keystone species.—Decline status: Unknown.—Low priority for conservation action.