Jawad, L.A., AL-Saboonchi, A., Kassim, A.K., Salim, H.F. 2019. A lag of 44 years: presence of Epinephelus lanceolatus (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Epinephelidae) from the Persian Gulf. Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 49 (2): 185–187.

Abstract. An old stuffed specimen of the giant grouper, Epinephelus lanceolatus (Bloch, 1790) (2000 mm TL), was recovered during the relocation of the artefacts of the Basrah Natural History Museum, University of Basrah, Iraq recently. The specimen was collected 44 years ago in 1974 by a gillnet in the Shatt al-Arab Estuary, Basrah, Iraq. So far, this species is known to have no records from the Persian Gulf area. The present report is important in recording E. lanceolatus from the estuary of the Shatt al-Arab River and is considered new for both the Iraqi and the Persian Gulf waters. Our finding brings to light an amazing example of invasion lag.

Keywords: Arabian Gulf, Persian Gulf, Basrah City, Iraq, Serranidae, range extension, biogeography