Izdihar Ammar(1)*, Hadeel Arraj(1), Fadia dib(2), and Izzat Arabia(1)
(1). High Institute of Marine Research, Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria.
(2). Agricultural Research Center, Lattakia, Syria.
(*Corresponding author:. Izdihar Ammar E-Mail: izdiammar@gmail.com)
Received:22/12/2021 Accepted:9/03/2022
Abstract:
The current status of the invasive alien marine benthic species was evaluated in several locations of the coast of Lattakia and Jableh during the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 using the horizontal scanning of the benthic communities of phyto and zoobenthos in the littoral area IN addition to study their specific composition in the fishing yield in the deeper areas up to a depth of 700m. The presence of more than 118 alien species of marine invertebrates, most of them Lessepsians, was recorded, constituting 15.73% of the species found in the Syrian coast, the number of invasive species of which was 44 species, or 37.29%. Most of these species have become endemic to the Syrian marine environment and are widespread. Twenty of these invasive species have been placed on the black list of invasive species, and the presence of 22 species of alien algae and seaweed was recorded, the number of invasive species of which reached 8, with a rate of 36.36%, most of the species recorded for the first time during this study from tropical waters from The Gulf of Mexico and the eastern coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, which is reflected in marine biodiversity.
Keywords: climatic changes, Eastern Mediterranean, invasive alien species, lessepsian species.
Full paper in Arabic: pdf