Demersal Lessepsian fish assemblage structure in the northern Levant and Aegean Seas
08/31/2018Demersal Lessepsian fish assemblage structure in the northern Levant and Aegean Seas
Murat Bilecenoğlu
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, TURKEY
Abstract
Spatial diversity and assemblage structure of Lessepsian fish were investigated, based on bottom trawlings carried out at the northern Levant and Aegean Sea coasts of Turkey. A total of 20 species were identified, with abundances gradually decreasing along the longitudinal gradient from east to west. Two species, Saurida lessepsianus and Equulites klunzingeri, made up 82.5% of the total Lessepsian fish catch, which were also responsible from the greatest portion of dissimilarity between Levant and Aegean Seas. The results of cluster and nMDS analyses based on a Bray-Curtis similarity value of 50% showed the presence of three different assemblages, revealing that the borders of Lessepsian province currently shows no sign of northwards expansion towards the northern Aegean Sea. Possible influence of six environmental variables on fish assemblage structure were tested; two (depth and water temperature) were found to be statistically significant by the Monte Carlo permutation test. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that only Nemipterus randalli had a positive correlation with water temperature, while the remaining species either had a preference to shallow depths or cool waters.
Keywords: Lessepsian province, fish assemblage, Levant Sea, Aegean Sea
References
Azzurro, E. (2008) The advance of thermophilic fishes in the Mediterranean Sea: overview and methodological questions. In: Climate Warming and Related Changes in Mediterranean Marine Biota (ed. F Briand). Monaco, CIESM
Workshop Monographs 35, pp. 39-46.
Azzurro, E., Soto, S., Garofalo, G., Maynou, F. (2013) Fistularia commersonii in the Mediterranean Sea: invasion history and distribution modeling based on presence-only records. Biol Inv 15: 977-990.
Bdioui, M., Gharssallah, H., Ben Naceur, L., M’Rabet, R. (2004) Première mention du poisson-bourse Stephanolepis diaspros (Fraser-Brünner, 1940) dans la lagune de Bizerte. Bull. Inst. Natn. Scien. Tech. Mer de Salammbô 31: 119-
121.
Béjaoui, B., Harzallah, A., Moussa, M., Chapelle, A., Solidoro, C. (2008) Analysis of hydrobiological pattern in the Bizerte lagoon (Tunisia). Est. Coast. Shelf Sci. 80: 121-129.
Belmaker, J., Parravicini, V., Kulbicki, M. (2013) Ecological traits and environmental affinity explain Red Sea fish introduction into the Mediterranean. Glob. Change Biol. 19: 1373-1382.
Berman, T., Paldor, N., Brenner, S. (2003) Annual SST cycle in the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea and Gulf of Elat. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30: 1-4.
Bianchi, C.N. (2007) Biodiversity issues for the forthcoming tropical Mediterranean Sea. Hydrobiologia 580: 7-21.
Bilecenoglu, M. (2010) Alien marine fishes of Turkey – an updated review. In: Fish Invasions of the Mediterranean Sea: Change and Renewal (eds., D. Golani, B. Appelbaum-Golani). Pensoft Publishers, Sofia-Moscow, pp. 189-217.
Bilecenoglu, M., Alfaya, J.E.F., Azzurro, E., Baldacconi, R., Boyaci, Y.O., Circosta, V., Compagno, L.J.V., Coppola, F., Deidun, A., Durgham, H., Durucan, F., Ergüden, D., Fernández-Álvarez, F.Á., Gianguzza, P., Giglio, G., Gökoglu, M., Gürlek, M., Ikhtiyar, S., Kabasakal, H., Karachle, P.K., Katsanevakis, S., Koutsogiannopoulos, D., Lanfranco, E., Micarelli, P., Özvarol, Y., Pena-Rivas, L., Poursanidis, D., Saliba, J., Sperone, E., Tibullo, D., Tiralongo, F., Tripepi, S., Turan, C., Vella, P., Yokeş, M.B., Zava, B. (2013) New Mediterranean marine biodiversity records (December, 2013). Med. Mar. Sci. 14: 463-480.
Cebrian, E., Rodrigues-Prieto, C. (2012). Marine invasion in the Mediterranean Sea: the role of abiotic factors when there is no biological resistance. PlosOne 7(2): e31135.
Clarke, K.R., Warwick, R.M. (1994) Change in Marine Communities. Natural Environment Research Council, UK.
Corsini-Foka, M. (2010) Current status of alien fishes in Greek seas. In: Fish Invasions of the Mediterranean Sea: Change and Renewal (eds., D. Golani, B. Appelbaum-Golani). Pensoft Publishers, Sofia-Moscow, pp. 219-253.
Corsini-Foka, M., Pancucci-Papadopoulou, M.A., Kalogirou, S. (2010) Is the Lessepsian Province in expansion? The Aegean Sea experience. Report of the Sub-Regional Technical meeting on the Lessepsian migration and its impact on
Eastern Mediterranean fishery. GCP/INT/041/EC–GRE–ITA/TD-04, FAO EastMed Working Document, pp. 50-59.
Çinar, M.E., Bilecenoglu, M., Öztürk, B., Katagan, T., Yokeş, M.B., Aysel, V.,Dagli, E., Açik, S., Özcan, T., Erdoğan, H. (2011) An updated review of alien species on the coasts of Turkey. Med. Mar. Sci. 12: 257-316.
Edelist, D., Rilov, G., Golani, D., Carlton, J.T., Spanier, E. (2013) Restructuring the sea: profound shifts in the world’s most invaded marine ecosystem. Diversity Distrib. 19: 69–77.
Galil, B.S. (2006) The marine caravan – the Suez Canal and the Erythrean invasion. In: Bridging Divides (eds., S. Gollasch, B.S. Galil, A.N. Cohen), Monographiae Biologicae 83, Springer, The Netherlands, pp. 207-300.
Golani, D. (1996) The marine ichthyofauna of the Eastern Levant – history, inventory and characterization. Isr. J. Zool. 42: 15-55.
Golani, D., Ben-Tuvia, A. (1989) Characterization of Lessepsian (Suez Canal) fish migrants. In: Environmental Quality and Ecosystem Stability (eds., E. Spanier, Y. Steinberger, M. Luria). Jerusalem, ISEEQS Publ., pp. 235-243.
Gücü, A.C., Bingel, F. (1994) Trawlable species assemblages on the continental shelf of the North-Eastern Levant Sea (Mediterranean) with an emphasis on Lessepsian migration. Acta Adriat. 35: 83-100.
Gücü, A.C., Bingel, F., Avsar, D., Uysal, N. (1994) Distribution and occurrence of Red Sea fish at the Turkish Mediterranean coast – northern Cilician basin. Acta Adriat. 34: 103-113.
Hiddink, J.G., Lasram, F.B.R., Cantrill, J., Davies, J. (2012) Keeping pace with climate change: what can we learn from the spread of Lessepsian migrants? Glob. Change Biol. 18: 2161-2172.
Lasram, F.B., Mouillot, D. (2009) Increasing southern invasion enhances congruence between endemic and exotic Mediterranean fish fauna. Biol. Inv. 11: 697-711.
Lejeusne, C., Chevaldonné, P., Pergent-Martini, C., Boudouresque, C.F., Pérez, T. (2010) Climate change effects on a miniature ocean: the highly diverse, highly impacted Mediterranean Sea. Trends Ecol. Evol. 25: 250-260.
Lepš, J., Šmilauer, P. (2003) Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data Using CANOCO. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Pancucci-Papadopoulou, M.A., Raitsos, D.E., Corsini-Foka, M. (2012) Biological invasions and climatic warming: implications for south-eastern Aegean ecosystem functioning. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K. 92: 777-789.
Papaconstantinou, C. (1990) The spreading of lessepsian fish migrants into the Aegean Sea (Greece). Sci. Mar. 54: 313-316.
Por, F.D. (1978) Lessepsian Migration. The Influx of Red Sea Biota into the Mediterranean by Way of the Suez Canal. Ecological Studies 23, Springer Verlag, Berlin.
Por, F.D. (1990) Lessepsian migration. An appraisal and new data. Bull. Inst. Océanog. Monaco 7: 1-10.
Por, F.D. (2009) Tethys returns to the Mediterranean: Success and limits of tropical re-colonization. BioRisk 3: 5-19.
Skliris, N., Sofianos, S.S., Gkanasos, A., Axaopoulos, P., Mantziafou, A., Vervatis, V. (2011) Long-term sea surface temperature variability in the Aegean Sea. Adv. Oceanogr. Limnol. 2: 125-139.
Ter Braak, C.J.F., Smilauer, P. (2002) CANOCO Reference Manual and CanoDraw for Windows User’s Guide: Software for Canonical Community Ordination (version 4.5). Ithaca, New York.
Ter Braak, C.J.F., Verdonschot, P.F.M. (1995) Canonical correspondanceanalysis and related multivariate methods in aquatic ecology. Aquat. Sci. 57: 255-289.
Theocharis, A. (2008) Do we expect significant changes in the thermohaline circulation in the Mediterranean in relation to observed surface layers warming? In: Climate Warming and Related Changes in Mediterranean Marine Biota (ed.
F. Briand). Monaco, CIESM Workshop Monographs 35, Monaco, pp. 25-29.
Zenetos, A., Gofas, S., Morri, C., Rosso, A., Violanti, D., Garcia Raso, J.E., Çinar, M.E., Almogi-Labin, A., Ates, A.S., Azzurro, E., Ballesteros, E., Bianchi, C.N., Bilecenoglu, M., Gambi, M.C., Giangrande, A., Gravili, C., Hyams-Kaphzan, O., Karachle, P.K., Katsanevakis, S., Lipej, L., Mastrototaro, F., Mineur, F., Pancucci-Papadopoulou, M.A., Ramos Espla, A., Salas, C., San Martin, G., Sfriso, A., Stretaris, N., Verlaque, M. (2012) Alien species in the Mediterranean Sea by 2012. A contribution to the application of European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Part 2. Introduction trends and pathways. Med. Mar. Sci. 13: 328-352.