Siganus rivulatus
Marbled spinefoot
Siganus rivulatus (Forsskål & Niebuhr, 1775)
Siganus rivulatus is a demersal herbivorous fish native to the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean. The construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt allowed this species to reach the Mediterranean, where environmental conditions favored its dispersal. As it mainly feeds on algae and marine phanerogams, it competes with the native herbivore Sarpa salpa. As a result, S. rivulatus can significantly reduce biodiversity in a given area (Por, 1978; Golani et al., 2002; Dulcic and Pallaoro, 2004).
