- Deniz Ayas
Fisheries Faculty, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey Yenişehir Campus, 33160, Mersin, Turkey
- Gülsemin Şen Ağilkaya
Fisheries Faculty, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey Yenişehir Campus, 33160, Mersin, Turkey
Occurrence of the Spotted Sea Hare Aplysia dactylomela (Rang 1828, Aplysiidae) in the Yeşilovacık Bay, Norteastern Mediterranean Coast of Turkey
The alien opisthobranch, Aplysia dactylomela, is recorded for the first time from the Yeşilovacık Bay in 2017. One specimen of A. dactylomela was photographed at the infralittoral zone of the Bay . The length of the specimen was 35 cm. The individual was photographed while feeding on rocks covered with algae. The first record of the A. dactylomela from the Mediterranean Sea was reported from the island of Lampedusa (Central Mediterranean Sea) was reported in 2002. In the following years, A. dactylomela was reported from the North-Eastern Sicily, from the coast of Hatay (NE Mediterranean Sea of the Turkey), from the island of Crete (Aegean Sea), from the coast of Kaş (NE Mediterranean Sea of the Turkey), from the Cirkewwa (Malta), from the Akhziv submarine canyon (Israel), from the island of Paros (Aegean Sea), from the island of Susac (Crotia), from the Montenegro (SE Adriatic Sea), from the Egadi Islands marine protected area (western Sicily), from the Capo San Donato harbour (Ligurian Sea).