Th e paper describes the structure of macrozoobenthos inhabiting Kuwait's waters (northwestern Arabian Gulf). Material for the study was collected from 17 stations in December 2004. A total of 270 species of macrozoobenthos and representatives of higher taxonomic groups belonging to 10 phyla were recorded and identifi ed. Species diversity was highest in polychaetes, gastropods, bivalved molluscs and crustaceans (83, 51, 52 and 38 species, respectively). Quantitative estimates of macrozoobenthos was studied in this geographic region for the fi rst time. In the depth of 2-20 m the abundance of macrozoobenthos averaged 795 ind./m 2 . Polychaetes, gastropods and crustaceans prevailed in the sublittoral zone. In assessing species diversity the ecological indices of Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, Pielou and Margaleff were used. Th e obtained results point out that in Kuwait's waters the diversity of macrozoobenthos is relatively high while the level of dominance is low. It was also found that in Kuwait Bay macrozoobenthos is less diverse than in other locations of the region.

The flatworm Stylochus tauricus Jacubova has been found associated with the barnacle Balanus improvisus Darwin, on which it feeds . The predation rate (the number of barnacles eaten by one polyclad in a month) ranges between 5-10 . Inside the empty shells of B. improvisus some egg-plates of S. tauricus were observed . Pelagic Gotte's larvae aged 2-3 days possess 4 lobes while those aged 7-8 days have 5 lobes . Flatworms can prey on the young of another species Balanus eburneus Gould, whereas predation on the mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam . is rare. There is a direct correlation between predator abundance and prey ingested .

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The distribution and abundance patterns of amphipods associated withSargassumspecies were studied on a spatial scale along Kuwait’s coastal waters. Macroalgae, in particularSargassumspp., are known to host a high biodiversity of marine fauna, particularly amphipods, when compared to non-Sargassum(“clear”) areas. Amphipods are an important component in the food web, being consumed by different stages of fish.Sargassumwas sampled from four different stations in Kuwait’s waters to determine the amphipod species composition and density. Physicochemical parameters were measured at the time of sampling at each station, focusing on turbidity, as this can promote variation in the faunal distribution between areas, and it was the only non-biological factor showing a distinctive pattern between stations in this study. The objectives of this study thus were to describe the amphipod biodiversity inSargassumcommunities and to measure the difference in diversity betweenSargassumand clear areas, while concurrently taking into account the effect of turbidity. The most abundant amphipods represented werePontocratessp. (cf.arenarius(Spence Bate, 1858)),Ericthoniussp. (cf.forbesiiHughes & Lowry, 2006),Maxillipius rectitelsonLedoyer, 1973, andPodocerus mamlahensisMyers & Nithyanandan, 2016. Among the measured physicochemical parameters, only turbidity had a significant effect on the biodiversity of amphipods (,) with a negative relationship based on the general linear model test. The effect ofSargassumand non-Sargassumareas on amphipod diversity was statistically not significant (,). Also, there was no interaction between turbidity andSargassum/clear areas (,). However, the diversity was observed to be higher inSargassumareas of all stations as compared to their clear counterparts, except in Khairan during January 2016, where the situation was the opposite. The abundance was highest in low turbidity, particularly at Salmyia station, compared to the high turbidity conditions at the stations at Failaka and Green Island. The species composition differed as well, the number of species found being the highest in theSargassumarea of Salmyia Station and the lowest at Failaka Island (highest turbidity). Only Salmyia Station (low turbidity) contained 27 species in itsSargassumarea, of which only few were present at other stations in both areas. Turbidity affected the diversity of amphipods, and diversity was higher inSargassumareas at all stations except Khairan in January 2016, but that difference was not significant.