Moreno, I.

Roca, I.

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

SECOND RECORD OF SPHOEROIDES CUTANEUS (GUNTHER, 1870)
(TETRAODONTIDAE) FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
0 ne specimen of Sphoeroides cutaneus
(fig. 1) was caught by the fishing boat "Gua-
dalupe" in a trawl net on the 26th of April
of 1983 off the Bay of Cala Ratjada, NE of
the Island of Majorca, between this island
and Minorca (39°, 41 N, 3°, 30 E) at a depth
of 72 m. This fish is absolutely unknown to
the local fishermen, although the first record
is also from Cala Ratjada, fished on the 17th
Fig. 1. Sphoeroides cutaneus.
of January of 1979 from a depth of 80 m
(OLIVER, 1981).
AREA
The area in which this specimen was collect-
ed is a fully exploited fishing ground, where
the trawl boats of the local fishing ports,
specially Cala Ratjada, regularly fish. In this
part of the island of Majorca, where the wa-
ter is very clean, the continental platform is
very narrow, so it is very near the steep con-
tinental slope, rich in shrimps. It must be
pointed out that the first specimen recorded
from the Me'diterranean, captured in 1979
was also fished in this area (fig. 2). The most
abundant fish species ordinary caught in this
area are Mullus surmuletus, Scorpaena scrofa
and Scyliorhinus capicula.
Fig. 2. Area in which
Sphoeroides cutaneus was
caught. The arrow points
out the fishing port of
Cala Ratjada, and the three
circles the area in which it
was captured.
Area en la que Sphoe-
roides cutaneus fue captu-
rado. La flecha seriala el
puerto de Cala Ratjada, y
los tres círculos el àrea en
la que se capturó.
301
DESCRIPTION 
The specimen is a mature female of 32,20 
cm long (total length), with the characteris- 
tic features of the family. It has smooth nak- 
ed skin without any prickles, a cylindrical 
stout body, greyish brown at the back and 
whitish pale grey on its inflatable belly. Ven- 
tral fins absent and a short truncate caudal 
fin . Large head, rounded snout, its large 
two teeth in each jaw forming a beak with 
an entire even cutting edge, fleshy lips, two 
nostrils in either side on a papilla, gil1 open- 
ings just in front of the pectoral fins. Big 
oval green blueish eyes, with a flat interorbi- 
tal space. The fin rays are soft, segmented 
and branched. 
Measurements: total length, 322 mm; 
standard lenght, 188 mm; head length, 
110 mm; head depth (contracted), 136 mm; 
maximum body width, 75 mm; preocular 
length, 40 mm; ocular diameter, 27 mm. 
Rays: pectoral fin, 14; anal fin, 8 ;  dorsal 
fin, 9; caudal fin, 10-12. 
State of the gonads: mature. 
Stomach contents: remnants of two red 
mullets (Mullus surmuletus). 
As far as it has been checked, this speci- 
men is the biggest recorded. 
This species described as Tetrodon cuta- 
neus, was changed by FOWLER (1920) to 
the genus Liosaccus, being L. cutaneus its 
only species. F R A S E R - B R U N N E R  (1943) 
includes this species in the genus Sphoeroi- 
des because he states that the presence or 
absence of dermal spines is a matter of indi- 
vidual variation in some American species 
and it is not a significant enough feature to 
separate two genera. 
DISTRIBUTION 
When G U N T H E R  (1 870) described this spe- 
cies he reported it from Saint Helen Island 
and since then, it has been considered a rare 
species from the Tropical West Africa (AL- 
B URQUERQUE, 1954-56; TORTONESE,  
1973). FOWLER (1936) considers it circum- 
tropical. It has been reported from the Azo- 
res Islands (FOWLER, 1920), for the Tropi- 
cal Atlantic (POLL, 1959; BLACHE et al., 
1970), for Portugal (GONCÁLVEZ,  1941) 
and also from Japan and Hawaii. In the 
ichthyological works on the Mediterranean 
(LOZANO, 1952; TORTONESE, 1975) it 
is not recorded. In al1 its geographical area 
this species is considered a rare one, rather 
coastal and ranging from 20 to 200 m in 
depth. The atlantic spanish fishermen that 
go to the Azorean fishing grounds consider 
it a rare fish and it is known by the vernacu- 
lar name of "sapo" or "zapo" 
AKNOW LEDGEMENTS 
We acknowledge the captain and crew of the "Gua- 
dalupe" who kindly gave us the specimen, as weli 
as the information of where it had been caught. 
RESUMEN 
Se cita por segunda vez en el Mar Mediterráneo un 
ejemplar de Sphoeroides cutaneus recogido tam- 
bién en la zona costera del NE de la Isla de Mallor- 
ca a 72 m de profundidad. Se trata de una hembra 
madura de gran talla, la mayor reseñada hasta ahora. 
Es un pez de piel desnuda, cuerpo cilíndrico redon- 
deado, pardo grisáceo en el dorso, grisáceo blancuz- 
co en el vientre extensible. La cabeza es grande, el 
hocico romo, con dos dientes en cada mandíbula 
formando un pico, labios carnosos, dos orificios 
nasales a cada lado, sobre una papila y el opérculo 
justo delante de las aletas pectoraies. Presenta ojos 
grandes ovalados verde-azulados, con el espacio in- 
terorbital plano. Los radios de las aletas son blan- 
'dos, segmentados y ramificados. 
REFERENCES 
ALBURQUERQUE, R., 1954-56. Peixes de Portu- 
gal e Ilhas Adjacentes. Chavas para sua determi- 
napo. Port. Acta biol ser B: 1023-1024. 
BLACHE J., CADENAT, J .  & STAUCH, A., 1970. 
Faune Tropical XVIII Clés de  determination de  
poissons de mer signalés dans Iütlantique 
oriental. ORSTOM. Paris. 
FOWLER, H. W., 1920. The fishes of the United 
States "Eclipse" expedition to West Africa. 
Proc U.S.natn. Mus. 1919 (1920), 56: 206. 
1936. The marine fishes of West Africa based 
on the coliection of the American Museum 
Congo Expedition 1909-15. Bull. o f  the Ameri- 
can Museum of Nat. Hist., 70 (2): 11 11-11 12. 
FRASER-BRUNNER, A., 1943. The Classification 
of the suborder Tetraodontidae, with a Synop- 
sis of the genera. Ann. & Mag. Na. Hist Ser 11, (m: 11. 
GONGALVES, B. C., 1941. Colepao oceanográfica 
de D. Carlos 1. Catalogo dos peixes. Trans. Stn 
Biol. marit. Lisb. , (46): 108. 
GUNTHER, A., 1870. Catalogue of the fishes in 
the British Museum 8. Cat fish.: 287. 
LOZANO, L., 1952. Peces Fisoclistos Subserie To- 
rácicos. Memorias de la R. Acad. de  C. Exactas, 
Físicas y Naturales. Madrid. Tomo XIV. 
OLIVER, P., 1981. Sobre la aparición de algunos 
peces raros en las Islas Baleares. Bol. Inst. Espa. 
Ocea!no. VI (304): 60-64. 
POLL, M., 1959. Poissons V Teleosteens Acantop 
terigiens (2 partie) Res Sci Exped. Oceanogr. 
Belg. Eaux Cot. Afr. Atlantic Sud. (1948-49), 
(3B): 344. 
TORTONESE, E., 1973. Tetraodontidae. In: 
Checklbt of  the fishes of the northern eastern 
Atlantic and of the Mediterranean (CLOFNAM) 
UNESCO: 646. 
- 1975. Osteichthyes (Pesci Ossei) Fauna d 'Italia. 
Ed. Calderini. Bologna. 
Moreno, 1. & Roca, I., 1984. Second record of Sphoeroides cutaneus (Gunther, 1870) (Tetraodontidae) 
from the Mediterranean Sea. Misc. Zool., 8 : 301-303. 
(Rebu t: 8-11-84) 
I. Moreno, I. Roca, Dept. de Zoología y Biología Marina, Fac. de Ciencias, Univ. de Palma de Mallorca, 
Islas Baleares, España. 
SOBRE LA OBSERVACI~N DE PIQUITUERTOS (LOXIA CUR VIROSTRA) 
CON FRANJA ALAR BLANCA. 
El fenómeno de la franja alar blanca presente 
en algunos piquituertos (Loxia spp.), ha sido 
recientemente revisado por BERTHOLD & 
SCHLENKER (1982). La frecuencia de apa- 
rición de este carácter es muy baja, del orden 
de uno a dos por cada mil ejemplares en Lo- 
xia cuwirostra, e inferior a uno por mil en 
Loxia pytyopsittacus (BERTHOLD & 
GWINNER,  1978; BERTHOLD & SCHLEN- 
KER, 1982). 
La presencia de estos individuos con fran- 
ja alar blanca ha sido interpretada de muy 
diversas maneras, llegando incluso a ser con- 
siderados como pertenecientes a una especie 
distinta (Thienemann in BERTHOLD & 
SCHLENKER , 1982). En la actualidad, la hi- 
pótesis más aceptada es que se trata de un 
carácter atávico, siendo ésta una de las evi- 
dencias aducidas para explicar la evolución 
de Loxia cuwirostra y Loxia pytyopsittacus 
a partir de Loxia leucoptera (HORVATH, 
1975; NETHERSOLE-THOMPSON, 1975). 
La valoración de las características atávi- 
cas reside en la frecuencia y extensión geo- 
gráfica de éstas (HORVATH, 1975), y de 
aquí el interés que tiene el documentar la 
aparicibn de estas anomalías cromáticas. En 
los piquituertos, sin embargo, la interpreta- 
ción dle este fenómeno se dificulta por su 
dinámica irruptiva que periódicamente oca- 
siona el contacto de poblaciones muy distan- 
ciadas (NEWTON, 1972). A pesar de ese ca- 
rácter irruptivo, la mayoría de citas y traba- 
jos proceden de Centroeuropa; la causa posi- 
blemente reside en lo deficientemente pros- 
pectada que está el área sur. Las observacio- 
nes de dos Loxia cuwirostra con franja alar 
blanca realizadas por los autores en agosto 
de 19'75 y septiembre de 1982 en los bos- 
ques de Rasos de Peguera (Barcelona), am- 
plian hacia el sur el área en la que ha sido 
descrito este fenómeno. 
On the observation o f  Common Crossbills (Loxia 
curvirostra) with withish wing-bar. In this note two 
observations of Common Crossbills (Loxia curvi- 
rostra) with a prominent whitish wing-bar are re- 
ported. One of them was made in August 1975, and 


Second record of Sphoeroides cataneus (Gunther, 1870) (Tetraodontidae) from the Mediterranean Sea

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