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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Soft-bottom polychaetes in a chronic eutrophic bay on the coast of Alexandria

Noha Elebiary https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1056-3061 A * , Faiza Abd Elnaby https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1457-2363 A , Mohamed M. Dorgham https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9239-8241 B , Amira M. Hamdan B and Rasha Hamdy B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF), Alexandria, Egypt.

B Oceanography Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.

* Correspondence to: nohahassan8853@yahoo.com

Handling Editor: Jill Chiu

Marine and Freshwater Research 74(4) 347-356 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF22204
Submitted: 30 September 2022  Accepted: 28 December 2022   Published: 30 January 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context: The polychaetes are the major benthos in the soft bottom of the eutrophic Eastern Harbour of Alexandria, Egypt.

Aim: Investigate the quantitative and qualitative dynamics of polychaete community in the Harbour.

Methods: Polychaetes were collected bimonthly from August 2018 to June 2019, by using a 29- × 16-cm grab.

Key results: In total, 54 polychaete species were identified, belonging to 27 families and 51 genera. The family Syllidae was represented by eight species, Spionidae by five species, and Cirratulidae by five species, against one to three species from all other families. Eleven alien species were recorded, including four new to the Mediterranean Sea (Caulleriella cristata, Armandia casuarina, Spio blakei and Prionospio lighti). The polychaete community displayed pronounced temporal variations in both species diversity and numerical abundance at the two sampled sites.

Conclusion: This study showed high diversity and abundance of polychaetes in such eutrophic basin.

Implications: The eutrophication may play a role in the structure and count of polychaetes in the Eastern Harbour.

Keywords: Alexandria coast, alien species, diversity, Eastern Harbour, Egypt, eutrophic, indicator species, Mediterranean, new record, polychaetes, soft bottom.


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