THE GULF OF SUEZ ICHTHYOFAUNA—ASSEMBLAGE POOL FOR LESSEPSIAN MIGRATION INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN

ABSTRACT

The composition of the ichthyofauna of the Gulf of Suez was compared to its source fauna in the entire Red Sea and to that in the eastern Levant Basin, the recipient region of Lessepsian migration. Feeding category proportions of Gulf of Suez fish were found to be intermediate between those of Red Sea and Mediterranean fishes, while habitat type proportions showed no clear trend. With the addition of 26 new records, the number of Gulf of Suez species has reached 502, comprising 40.2% of the known Red Sea ichthyofauna. Although the ranking of the most speciose families is similar in the Gulf of Suez and in the entire Red Sea, the relative proportion of certain families is quite different. A positive correlation has been found between those families with a proportionally higher representation in the Gulf of Suez and the number of Lessepsian migrant species in the Mediterranean belonging to those families. A delineation of the number of species in the Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, Suez Canal, eastern Levant Basin, and the entire Mediterranean, including Lessepsian and anti-Lessepsian migrants, is provided.