First documented records of Apolemia cf. uvaria (Lesueur, 1815) (Cnidaria: Siphonophorae) and Cestum veneris Lesueur, 1813 (Ctenophora: Cestidae) in the Lebanese waters, the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Ali Badreddine, Ghazi Bitar, Stefano Piraino

ORCID IDs: A.B. 0000-0003-4576-7400; G.B. 0000-0003-0270-5613; S.P. 0000-0002-8752-9390

Tyre Coast Nature Reserve, Department of Biology, Tyre-South, LEBANON
Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, Hadath, Beirut, LEBANON
Università del Salento, DISTEBA, 73100 Lecce, ITALY

Abstract

Two jellyfish species are documented for the first time from the Lebanese waters. A string jellyfish, siphonophore, Apolemia cf. uvaria, was observed first on 25 May 1993, at 5 m depth, off Tripoli (north of Lebanon) and recently on 25 April 2021 photographed off Saida (south Lebanon) at 16 m depth. The other species, a rare ctenophore, venus girdle, Cestum veneris, was observed and photographed at around 2 m depth off Tyre (south Lebanon), on 4 March 2021.

Keywords: Siphonophorae, Ctenophora, Apolemia cf. uvaria, Cestum veneris, Lebanese waters, eastern Mediterranean Sea

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