Distribution of blackchin guitarfsh Rhinobatos cemiculus E. Geofroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817 (Elasmobranchii: Rhinobatidae) with frst records from İzmir Bay (Turkey, northeastern Aegean Sea)

Abstract

Blackchin guitarfsh, Rhinobatos cemiculus, is rather abundantly captured in the eastern tropical Atlantic, especially of Senegaland Mauritania. In the Mediterranean western basin, R. cemiculus is unknown at present of the European shore but is rather frequentof southern areas; conversely, the species occurs throughout the eastern basin. Two large specimens recorded for the frst time in İzmirBay, northern Aegean Sea, are reported and described in this note. Tese fndings constitute the northernmost records of R. cemiculusin both the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and they signifcantly extend the species distribution known to date.