BioInvasions Records (2016) Volume 5, Issue 4: 291–294 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3391/bir.2016.5.4.15 © 2016 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2016 REABIC Open Access 291 Rapid Communication New record of the Seychelles dragonet Synchiropus sechellensis Regan, 1908 from the Mediterranean: accidental entrance or Lessepsian immigration? Nikolas Michailidis 1, * and Niki Chartosia 2,3 1 Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR), 101 Vithleem Str., 1416 Strovolos, Nicosia, Cyprus 2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus 3 Oceanography Centre, University of Cyprus, PO. Box 20537 Nicosia 1678, Cyprus E-mail addresses: nmichailidis@dfmr.moa.gov.cy (NM), nchartos@ucy.ac.cy (NC) *Corresponding author Received: 18 May 2016 / Accepted: 8 July 2016 / Published online: 15 July 2016 Handling editor: Charles Martin Abstract The Seychelles dragonet Synchiropus sechellensis Regan, 1908 is reported for the fourth time from the Mediterranean and for the first time from Cyprus. This addition expands its distribution in the Mediterranean further from the Gulf of Antalya on the Turkish coast and the islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo in Southeastern Aegean, placing a question mark whether this species was accidentally introduced in the Mediterranean as initially hypothesized, or it actively entered from the Indo-Pacific through the Suez Canal (Lessepsian immigration) and may have been overlooked in areas closer to the Canal. The basic measurements of the specimen caught in Cyprus, as well as an updated list of all Lessepsian fish species reported from Cyprus are given. Key words: Callionymidae, Lessepsian fish, Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus Introduction Due to its proximity to the Suez Canal, Cyprus is highly affected by Lessepsian immigration. An earlier estimate (Michailidis 2010) showed that Lessepsian fish constitute up to 10% of the biomass of the local artisanal landings in Cyprus, while more recent data (Cyprus Department of Fisheries and Marine Research 2016) raise this percentage to 20%. So far, 36 Lessepsian fish species are known from Cyprus, with the most recent studies being those of Iglesias and Frotté (2015) with 7 new species (Parupeneus forsskali was confirmed by Chartosia and Michailidis 2016) and Crocetta et al. (2015) who reported Cheilodipterus novemstriatus (Rüppell, 1838). In this study, the occurrence of a new Red Sea fish species is reported from Cyprus: the Seychelles dragonet Synchiropus sechellensis Regan, 1908. This species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific and the Red Sea (Fricke 2002). The first report of the species from the Mediterranean was for an individual caught in the Gulf of Antalya (Turkey) in April 2014 (Gökoğlu et al. 2014). The species was then documented in the nearby Greek waters of Kastellorizo (September 2014) and Rhodes (February 2016) (Kondylatos et al. 2016). Dragonets of the family Callionymidae are benthic fishes occurring in the upper 900 meters of temperate, subtropical, and tropical oceans (Fricke 2002). Of the 42 species in the genus, only Synchiropus phaeton (Günther 1861) is common along the Mediterranean Sea coasts (including Cyprus), mainly on muddy bottoms at depths of 99–650 m (Froese and Pauly 2016). The present report of Synchiropus sechellensis raises the known number of Lessepsian fish species in Cyprus to 37 (Table 1). Methods On 28 March 2016, a male Synchiropus sechellensis individual (Figure 1) was caught in a trammel net (36 mm inner mesh eye opening) set at a depth of 40 m in the area of Moni Cyprus (34.691ºN 33.202ºE) (Figure 2). The species and sex were identified