Piscis non grata in the Mediterranean Sea: Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828)

Abstract

Pterois miles is currently considered a marine invader, especially in the western Atlantic where the species has been introduced in the middle of 1980's, at about the same time the species first appeared in the eastern Mediterranean. West Atlantic experience and the relevant literature told us that 'a P miles invasion has begun in the Mediterranean' Here, the research is presented providing important integrating data from the invasion by the same species in the Atlantic, the current status and historical distribution of P miles in the Mediterranean with a northernmost occurrence of the species from the Aegean Sea (off Didim coast, Turkey).