Much less is known of the southern part of the Alboran Sea. The fauna and flora
of the Spanish city of Melilla have been mostly ignored in the scientific literature, but
some general features were presented by Bueno del Campo and González García
(1996). One exception is the Chafarinas Islands, which have staged numerous
scientific projects dedicated to their marine biota, mostly involving scientists from
the universities of Málaga, Valencia and Autónoma de Madrid and, more recently, of
Granada and Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes (CSIC), resulting in several
doctoral theses: Eduardo López and Francisco J. Torres Gavilá on annelids (1995
and 2007, respectively), Álvaro L. Peña Cantero on hydrozoans (1995), Jordi
Silvestre on decapod crustaceans (2000), Santiago Villora-Moreno on meiofauna
(1993), Amparo Martí-Gil on amphipods (1997) and many articles on different
animal groups such as decapods, sponges and molluscs (e.g. García Raso 1988;
Maldonado et al. 2013; Oliver et al. 2015). An overview was provided by Guallart
and Afán (2013) and Maldonado et al. (2013). A prominent feature of this insular
setting is the survey over many years of the endangered limpet Patella ferruginea,
which has there its most important populations (Guallart and Templado 2016).
Another exception is the Mar Chica near Nador, the sole coastal lagoon of the
Alboran Sea and a very important element in the socioeconomic context of Northern
Morocco (Guelorget et al. 1984; Dakki 2003; Zine 2003). In the proximity of Nador,
the doctoral thesis by Mohamed Menioui (1988) provided interesting information on
the benthic communities associated with macroalgae. Important bionomic research
is going on in the Moroccan and Algerian parts, involving in many cases the
Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas in the Mediterranean, and
some results have been published (Ben Haj et al. 2009; Bazairi et al. 2013; Dauvin
et al. 2013 among others). It is expected that the gap will be filled in due course.
9.2 Supralittoral and Intertidal Communities
Along the sea-land interface, animal and vegetal communities are subject to high
stress; therefore it is the home of few, highly specialized species. This is a very
hostile environment, where the substrate is subject to strong insolation, sudden
changes in temperature and splashing, intense evaporation and rainfall (Templado
et al. 2012). In the Alboran Sea, contrary to the Atlantic where the tidal range can
span several metres, the intertidal zone is a very narrow strip due to a tidal range
usually less than 1 m. In addition, it is very exposed to human impacts due to the
intense tourist pressure and high coastal population density.
Very few studies have tackled the intertidal communities, and they basically
regard the western area (e.g. Conradi and López-González 1999; Krapp-Schickel
et al. 2011 on peracarid crustaceans) or are contained in more general accounts
(García Raso et al. 1992, 2010), in addition to a few of diverse nature (such as
Fischer-Piette 1959; Kensler 1964, 1965; Castellanos et al. 2003; Shemesh et al.
2009; Guerra-García et al. 2011).
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J. L. Rueda et al.
of the Spanish city of Melilla have been mostly ignored in the scientific literature, but
some general features were presented by Bueno del Campo and González García
(1996). One exception is the Chafarinas Islands, which have staged numerous
scientific projects dedicated to their marine biota, mostly involving scientists from
the universities of Málaga, Valencia and Autónoma de Madrid and, more recently, of
Granada and Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes (CSIC), resulting in several
doctoral theses: Eduardo López and Francisco J. Torres Gavilá on annelids (1995
and 2007, respectively), Álvaro L. Peña Cantero on hydrozoans (1995), Jordi
Silvestre on decapod crustaceans (2000), Santiago Villora-Moreno on meiofauna
(1993), Amparo Martí-Gil on amphipods (1997) and many articles on different
animal groups such as decapods, sponges and molluscs (e.g. García Raso 1988;
Maldonado et al. 2013; Oliver et al. 2015). An overview was provided by Guallart
and Afán (2013) and Maldonado et al. (2013). A prominent feature of this insular
setting is the survey over many years of the endangered limpet Patella ferruginea,
which has there its most important populations (Guallart and Templado 2016).
Another exception is the Mar Chica near Nador, the sole coastal lagoon of the
Alboran Sea and a very important element in the socioeconomic context of Northern
Morocco (Guelorget et al. 1984; Dakki 2003; Zine 2003). In the proximity of Nador,
the doctoral thesis by Mohamed Menioui (1988) provided interesting information on
the benthic communities associated with macroalgae. Important bionomic research
is going on in the Moroccan and Algerian parts, involving in many cases the
Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas in the Mediterranean, and
some results have been published (Ben Haj et al. 2009; Bazairi et al. 2013; Dauvin
et al. 2013 among others). It is expected that the gap will be filled in due course.
9.2 Supralittoral and Intertidal Communities
Along the sea-land interface, animal and vegetal communities are subject to high
stress; therefore it is the home of few, highly specialized species. This is a very
hostile environment, where the substrate is subject to strong insolation, sudden
changes in temperature and splashing, intense evaporation and rainfall (Templado
et al. 2012). In the Alboran Sea, contrary to the Atlantic where the tidal range can
span several metres, the intertidal zone is a very narrow strip due to a tidal range
usually less than 1 m. In addition, it is very exposed to human impacts due to the
intense tourist pressure and high coastal population density.
Very few studies have tackled the intertidal communities, and they basically
regard the western area (e.g. Conradi and López-González 1999; Krapp-Schickel
et al. 2011 on peracarid crustaceans) or are contained in more general accounts
(García Raso et al. 1992, 2010), in addition to a few of diverse nature (such as
Fischer-Piette 1959; Kensler 1964, 1965; Castellanos et al. 2003; Shemesh et al.
2009; Guerra-García et al. 2011).
292
J. L. Rueda et al.