Hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the Levant Sea (mainly Lebanon), with emphasis on alien species

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom Vol. 89; no. 1; pp. 49 - 62
• Main Authors: Morri, Carla, Puce, Stefania, Bianchi, Carlo Nike, Bitar, Ghazi, Zibrowius, Helmut, Bavestrello, Giorgio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.02.2009
• Subjects: Algae; alien species; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Cnidaria; Cnidaria. Ctenaria; Diphasia digitalis; Dynamena quadridentata; Eudendrium carneum; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Habitat preferences; Hydrozoa; Indigenous species; Introduced species; Invertebrates; Levant Sea; Macrorhynchia philippina; Marine; Mediterranean Sea; Sea water ecosystems; Seasonal variations; Sertularia; Sertularia marginata; Synecology; Taxonomy; zoogeography; Lebanon; Asia; Red Sea; Israel; Mediterranean Sea; MED, Western Mediterranean; MED, Lebanon; ISW, Red Sea; Hydrozoa; Levant Sea; Mediterranean Sea; zoogeography; alien species; Marine environment; Aquatic environment; Coelenterata; Introduced species; Cnidaria; Invertebrata
• ISSN: 0025-3154; 1469-7769
• DOI: 10.1017/S0025315408002749

Despite the hydroid fauna of the Mediterranean Sea being considered one of the best known in the world, the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea remains nearly unexplored. This paper reports on 38 species collected along the Levant Sea coast (mainly Lebanon), of which three are new records for the Mediterranean and nine for the Levant Sea. Six alien species, i.e. Eudendrium carneum, Sertularia marginata, Sertularia techocarpa, Macrorhynchia philippina, Diphasia digitalis and Dynamena quadridentata, are described in detail and illustrated on the basis of Levant Sea material. The last four species are considered as immigrants from the Red Sea. The synonymy of Sertularia stechowi, described from Japan, with S. techocarpa is established. Taken as a whole, the collection comprised a majority of circum-(sub)tropical species, and a reduced proportion of Atlantic–Mediterranean elements and Mediterranean endemics. The ecology (seasonality, depth distribution and habitat preference) of the indigenous species resulted similar to what is known for the more studied western Mediterranean, with some exceptions. Adding the present species inventory to the scanty published information, the total of hydroid species known from the Levant Sea rises to 70, indicating the need for future investigation in this sector of the Mediterranean Sea.