Alien Marine Species of Libya: First Inventory and New Records in El-Kouf National Park (Cyrenaica) and the Neighbouring Areas

Abstract

The presence of marine alien species in El-Kouf National Park and the neighbouring areas was assessed using a compilation of available information and observations, a field survey conducted on October 2010 in the framework of the MedMPAnet project and results of further monitoring during June and September 2012. A total of 9 alien species were reported: the Rhodophyta Asparagopsis taxiformis (Delile) Trevisan de Saint-Léon, the Chlorophyta Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman & Boudouresque, the crab Percnon gibbesi (H. Milne-Edwards, 1853) and the fishes Fistularia commersonii Rüppell, 1838, Siganus luridus (Rüppell, 1829), Siganus rivulatus Forsskål, 1775, Pempheris vanicolensis Cuvier, 1831, Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) and Sphyraena flavicauda Rüppell, 1838. Several of them were until now unknown for the National Park. The list of alien marine species of Libya is updated and discussed. Until now 63 marine aliens species were recorded along the Libyan coasts. These include 3 Foraminifera, 3 Ochrophyta, 5 Rhodophyta, 5 Chlorophyta, 1 Magnoliophyta, 11 Arthropoda, 13 Mollusca, 1 Echinodermata and 21 Chordata. Among these Non Indigenous Species, 43 are known as established along the Libyan coast including 8 invasive, 11 casual, 6 questionable, 3 cryptogenic and 1 unknown. An in-depth study of the marine organisms would substantially increase the number of alien species occurring in Libya. Monitoring of marine assemblages of MPAs is a valuable opportunity to go further into the knowledge of native and introduced species.

The Indo-Pacific Sergeant Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) (Perciformes: Pomacentridae) in Libya, South-Central Mediterranean Sea

“…However, it still lacks intensive systematic efforts for monitoring invasive marine species [33], a situation which is amplified by the wide political unrest in the region. Despite that, the number of alien species recorded in recent years is increasing thanks to field surveys, citizen-science projects, and international collaborations [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. Therefore, if these joint efforts continue, the outcomes obtained will be valuable and useful for the Mediterranean marine biology as a whole.…”

First Record of the Alien Macroalgae, Rivularia Atra and Polysiphonia Opaca, on the Libyan Coastline With Special Reference to Their Bionomics

“…The favorite substrates of R. atra and P. opaca; that is the limpet shell as well as the hard substratesofthe upper intertidal zone(R. atra) and lower intertidal zone (P. opaca) share a common feature of high content of CaCO 3 . This suggests that lime is the controlling factor in distribution of the two species and agrees with the findings of Schlagintweit et al (2004) who recorded two new species of Rivularia inhabiting the limestone of the northern calcareous Alps (Germany/ Austria) and with our findings that the sites S2, S3, S4 and S6 with no or low content of CaCO 3 had scarce growth of the two species.…”

New Records of Marine Algal Species Collected From Some Localities of Al-Jabel Al-Akhdar Coastline, Libya

“…Likewise, C. racemosa var. cylindracea was recorded by Bazairi et al (2013) at El-Kouf National Park.…”

“…The exotic C. racemosa var. cylindracea replaced the dominant seagrass community, Posidonia oceanica, in much of the Mediterranean coastline within six years (Bazairi et al, 2013). The same author cited that, after 23 years of C. racemosa var.…”

“…Aquaria trade and routine ship operations are considered as possible vectors for the invasion of algal species to new habitats. In particular, marine pollution affecting the Libyan ecosystem health enhances and flourishes the exotic algal species (Bazairi et al, 2013).…”