Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.32582/aa.65.1.5

Distribution and species composition of planktonic cnidarians in the Algerian coastal waters (SW Mediterranean Sea)

Aldjia Kherchouche-Ait Ouadour ; University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Biological Oceanography and the Marine Environment, Algiers, Algeria *
Yacine G. E. Khames ; University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Biological Oceanography and the Marine Environment, Algiers, Algeria
Aziz Hafferssas ; University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Biological Oceanography and the Marine Environment, Algiers, Algeria

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

This study presents an inventory of planktonic cnidarian species collected in Algerian coastal waters (1°10’00” W - 6°52’37” E and 35°37’42” N - 37°01’16” N) from May 2012 to February 2017. The aim was to analyse the qualitative distribution and identify the main components of this gelatinous fauna in different coastal ecosystems in western, central and eastern regions. A total of 60 taxa of planktonic cnidarians were identified, including 57 hydrozoans and three scyphozoans. The class Hydrozoa were represented by 34 hydromedusae, primarily belonging to orders Anthoathecata (15 taxa) and Siphonophorae (23 taxa). Several reported hydrozoan species were recorded for the first time in the southwestern Mediterranean Sea. These new regional records include the hydromedusae Kantiella enigmatica, Leuckartiara octona, Proboscidactyla ornata, Cunina globosa, Lovenella cirrata, Cirrholovenia tetranema, Phialella quadrata, Homoeonema platygonon and the siphonophore Forskalia contorta. Seasonal fluctuations were observed in biodiversity, with the highest species richness in spring and summer. The most common species are the calycophorous siphonophores Abylopsis tetragona, Muggiaea atlantica, Lensia subtilis Muggiaea kochii and the holoplanktonic medusae Aglaura hemistoma, Rhopalonema velatum, Solmundella bitentaculata, Liriope tetraphylla and Pelagia noctiluca. The species’ occurrence frequency exhibited seasonal and spatial variability. These distribution patterns were primarily determined by meroplanktonic hydrozoans (Anthoathecata and Leptothecata).

Keywords

Algerian coast, Hydromedusae, Siphonophorae, Scyphomedusae, biodiversity, spatial distribution, seasonal variability

Hrčak ID:

315361

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/315361

Publication date:

20.3.2024.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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