Occurrence of rare deep-water fish Sudis hyalina Rafinesque, 1810 (Paralepididae) in Gökova Bay, Aegean Sea of Turkey

Abstract

The Paralepididae family is represented in Turkish waters by at least four recognized species: Arctozenus risso (Bonaparte, 1840), Lestidiops jayakari (Boulenger, 1889), Lestidiops sphyraenoides (Risso, 1820) and Sudis hyalina Rafinesque (1810). Sudis hyalina lives in the mesopelagic to bathypelagic strata that descends to near muddy substrates at depths of 300–1,500 m (Golani, Öztürk, & Basusta, 2006; Mytilineou et al., 2013). Inhabiting both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean (Post, 1984; Fischer, Bauchot, & Schneider, 1987), S. hyalina is a widespread species with scarce knowledge of its biology and ecology. In fact, the few works in the literature refer to the geographical distribution, description of larval, juvenile and adult morphology, and to particular aspects of behavior.