First record of yellowbar angelfish Pomacanthus maculosus (Pomacanthidae) from the Syrian coast (eastern Mediterranean Sea)

On 16 June 2022, two specimens of Pomacanthus maculosus (Forsskal, 1775) were observed in the Syrian marine waters. One specimen was captured and classified, measured, preserved in formaldehyde and deposited at Tishreen University. It is a second substantiated record in the Levant Basin, and the first for the Syrian coast. The successful establishment of a viable population of P. maculosus in the Mediterranean Sea remains a suitable hypothesis which cannot be totally ruled out.