Captures of large and abnormal roundfail stingrays Taeniurops grabatus (Chondrichthyes: Dasyatidae) from the Syrian Coast (Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

In the present paper, the authors report the capture of two large specimens of roundfail stingray Taeniurops grabatus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) from the Syrian coast, which exhibited an abnormal body coloration. The first specimen was a female which was measured 1290 mm in disc width (DW) and reached 86 kg for total body weight (TWB). This specimen was entirely unpigmented, whitish, with red eyes and displayed a total albinism. The second specimen was also a female measuring 1620 mm DW, 1530 mm disc length, and 2740 mm in total length, its TWB was 101 kg. The dorsal and ventral surfaces of this specimen were whitish, with a normal retinal coloration and the tail was entirely darkish. It displayed a case of partial albinism or leucism. They are the first cases of abnormal coloration recorded to date in elasmobranch species captured in the Syrian marine waters.