Abstract:

Majority of the alien foraminifers recorded in the eastern Mediterranean are Indo-Pacific originated and entered the Mediterranean via Suez Canal. In this study, current literature on the alien benthic foraminiferal fauna of the eastern Mediterranean was reviewed and the main dispersal pathways are determined. Distribution patterns of the alien species suggests that most of the species are introduced via Suez Canal and expand their range of distributions in a counter-clockwise manner by the general surface currents of the eastern Mediterranean. However, not all, but some of the species have also been dispersed westwards along the North African coast and reached central Mediterranean. Locally abundant records of Euthymonacha polita (Chapman), Coscinospira acicularis (Batsch) and Amphistegina lobifera in the Aegean Sea indicates that Suez Canal may not be the only vector for the Indo-Pacific species to enter eastern Mediterranean and submarine springs help these thermophilic species to form establish populations in cool waters of the northern Aegean and the Sea of Marmara

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