New record of a great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Lamnidae) from the eastern Adriatic Sea by Alen SOLDO & Jakov DUL¸I¶ (1) Cybium 2005, 29(1): 89-90. (1) Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, PO Box 500, 21000 Split, CROATIA. [soldo@izor.hr] RÉSUMÉ. - Nouvelle capture d’un grand requin blanc, Carcharo- don carcharias (Lamnidae) en mer Adriatique orientale. Une femelle de 570 cm LT de grand requin blanc, Carcharodon carcharias, a été capturée le 24 juin 2003 dans une senne à thons, à 15 milles au sud-ouest de l’île de Jabuda en mer Adriatique orien- tale. C’est le premier signalement de cette espèce en mer Adriatique orientale depuis 1974. Key words. - Lamnidae - Carcharodon carcharias - Great white shark - MED - Adriatic - New record. On 24 June 2003, a female of 570 cm TL of a great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) was caught in tuna purse seine, 15 Nm SW off island Jabuka (Fig. 1). Fishing vessel was sur- rounding a school of bluefin tunas, but before the purse seine was closed, tunas escaped. Afterward, fishermen discovered a great white shark entangled in the purse seine. They tried to haul shark on the stern deck, but they were unable, due to its heavy weight. A larger vessel was called for help and eventually the shark was hauled on deck. Based on derrick possibilities of two vessels, the weight of this shark was estimated to about 2.5 tonnes. The fisher- men are included in Large Sharks Monitoring, run by the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries-Split, so they followed standard procedure: the shark was photographed (Fig. 2) and measured (total length, TL). Tooth samples from upper and lower jaws were taken and deposited in private fisherman collection (Fig. 3). Due to its great size, it was not possible to preserve the specimen in the ves- sel’s fish hold, so it was discarded to sea. The great white shark is one of the three species of the family Lamnidae reported in the Adriatic (Jardas, 1996). It is primarily a coastal and offshore inhabitant of the continental and insular shelves (Compagno, 1984). In last decades of XIX th century and first decades of XX th century, the great white sharks were regularly reported along the coast of the Eastern Adriatic Sea. Afterwards, records declined. The last record of this species in the Eastern Adri- atic was reported in 1974 when a fatal attack on human occurred (Soldo and Jardas, 2002a). From 1868 to 1974, a total of 61 records were documented (Soldo and Jardas, 2002a). Soldo and Jardas (2002b) suggested that apparent lack of records, since 1974, was related to the decline of tuna abundance in coastal waters of the Eastern Adriatic. Absence of great marine Figure 1. - Great white shark records in the Eastern Adriatic: in the period 1868-1974 () and the new record ( * ). [Captures de grands requins blancs en Adriatique orientale : période 1868-1974 () et nouvelle capture ( * ).] Figure 2. - Female great white shark caught in tuna purse seine in the Eastern Adriatic. [Femelle de grand requin blanc capturée dans une senne à thons en Adriatique orientale.] Notes ichtyologiques / Ichthyological notes