Occurrence of Brama brama (Bonnaterre 1788) in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey

One specimen of Brama brama (Bonnaterre 1788) was collected by trammel net at a depth of 55 m coast of Yesilovacik (Mersin Bay) on 1 June 2016 and other three specimens were captured by a bottom longline from Arsuz coast, Iskenderun Bay at depth of about 35 m on 09-10 May 2019. Although B. brama has been distributed in the Mediterranean Sea and reported to exit in the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, its occurrence is rare. The present study is the first confirmed report of the species from Iskenderun Bay and Mersin Bay, eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Besides, the present report is the first observation for these locations and fills another gap in the distribution range of this species. All measurements and counts as well as morphological and color descriptions of B. brama agree with previous descriptions.