The Problem of the Pre-Lessepsian Migrants Through the Isthmus of Suez
31
The possibility of a western contact with the tropical West-African areas has
also to be taken into account as a further complication.
The following is a list of Mediterranean plants and animals of Indo-Pacific
and Red Sea origins which at times and by different authors were suspected to be
pre-Lessepsian migrants.
1. Acanthophora Delilei (Algae) Aleem (1948), Gohar (1954)
2. Halophila stipulacea (Cormophyta) Peres (1967); Por (1969 a)
3. Ciripathes spiralis (Antipatharia) W. Steinitz (1929)
4. Eurythoe complanata (Polychaeta) Fauvel (1955)
5. Dasychone cingulata (Polychaeta) Fauvel (1955)
6. Pinctada radiata (= Pteria occa) (Mollusca) Por (1972)
7. Pirenella conica (Mollusca) W. Steinitz (1929)
8. Gonodactylus chiragra (Stomatopoda) Krukenberg (1888a)
9. Porcellana boscii (Decapoda) W. Steinitz (1929)
10. 7halamita admete (Decapoda) W. Steinitz (1929)
11. Scottolana longipes (Copepoda) Por and Marcus (1972)
12. M etrocarpa nigrum (Ascidicea) Peres (1967); Por (1971 b)
13. Hemiramphus picarti (Pis ces) W. Steinitz (1929)
14. Liza carinata (Pis ces) Ben-Tuvia (personal communication)
15. Leiognathus klunzingeri (Pis ces) Kosswig (1956)
16. Aphanius dis par (Pisces) Kosswig (1967)
17. Dugong dugon (Mammalia) Kingdon (1971).
This is a motley list of plants and animals. Some are probably wrong records
or misidentifications-as in the case of Gonodactylus chiragra-based on an unidentified Mediterranean record by Heller (1863) and Krukenberg (1888), of Porcellana boscii, which according to Holthuis and Gottlieb (1958) is based on a
doubtful record from the Aegaean Sea by Guerin-Meneville (1832), and the record of 7halamita admete made by the same author. Pinctada radiata, the little
pearl oyster, is most probably circumtropical and H emiramphus picarti too.
M etrocarpa nigrum could have reached the Tunisian coast where it lives, [rom the
tropical Atlantic. The case of Halophila stipulacea has been submitted to serious
doubts by Lipkin (1972b). Acanthophora Delilei is a case which has not been
sufficiently proven and is based only on a short statement by Aleem (1948).
Dasychone cingulata is, according to Fauvel (1955), very closely related to the Red
Sea Dasychone lucculana and needs further clarification. Scottolana longipes has
been considered as "pre-Lessepsian" only on the basis of its present huge populations along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, which for a meiobenthic organism
would, in the view I earlier expressed (por, 1964) exclude arecent invasion.
Leiognathus klunzingeri seems nevertheless to be anormal Lessepsian migrant. If
the presence of Eurythoe complanata at Beirut-before the opening of the Suez
Canal (Fauvel, 1955)-is a reliable fact, then this species would be a good case of a
"pre-Lessepsian" migrant. However, this species is later characterized by Fishelson and Rullier (1969) as circumtropical. Some degree of uncertainty is related to
the case of Dugong dugon, the Indo-Pacific sea cow, which is considered to have
lived in the Eastern Mediterranean at the time of the Phoenician and classical
Greek cuItures (Kingdon, 1971).
31
The possibility of a western contact with the tropical West-African areas has
also to be taken into account as a further complication.
The following is a list of Mediterranean plants and animals of Indo-Pacific
and Red Sea origins which at times and by different authors were suspected to be
pre-Lessepsian migrants.
1. Acanthophora Delilei (Algae) Aleem (1948), Gohar (1954)
2. Halophila stipulacea (Cormophyta) Peres (1967); Por (1969 a)
3. Ciripathes spiralis (Antipatharia) W. Steinitz (1929)
4. Eurythoe complanata (Polychaeta) Fauvel (1955)
5. Dasychone cingulata (Polychaeta) Fauvel (1955)
6. Pinctada radiata (= Pteria occa) (Mollusca) Por (1972)
7. Pirenella conica (Mollusca) W. Steinitz (1929)
8. Gonodactylus chiragra (Stomatopoda) Krukenberg (1888a)
9. Porcellana boscii (Decapoda) W. Steinitz (1929)
10. 7halamita admete (Decapoda) W. Steinitz (1929)
11. Scottolana longipes (Copepoda) Por and Marcus (1972)
12. M etrocarpa nigrum (Ascidicea) Peres (1967); Por (1971 b)
13. Hemiramphus picarti (Pis ces) W. Steinitz (1929)
14. Liza carinata (Pis ces) Ben-Tuvia (personal communication)
15. Leiognathus klunzingeri (Pis ces) Kosswig (1956)
16. Aphanius dis par (Pisces) Kosswig (1967)
17. Dugong dugon (Mammalia) Kingdon (1971).
This is a motley list of plants and animals. Some are probably wrong records
or misidentifications-as in the case of Gonodactylus chiragra-based on an unidentified Mediterranean record by Heller (1863) and Krukenberg (1888), of Porcellana boscii, which according to Holthuis and Gottlieb (1958) is based on a
doubtful record from the Aegaean Sea by Guerin-Meneville (1832), and the record of 7halamita admete made by the same author. Pinctada radiata, the little
pearl oyster, is most probably circumtropical and H emiramphus picarti too.
M etrocarpa nigrum could have reached the Tunisian coast where it lives, [rom the
tropical Atlantic. The case of Halophila stipulacea has been submitted to serious
doubts by Lipkin (1972b). Acanthophora Delilei is a case which has not been
sufficiently proven and is based only on a short statement by Aleem (1948).
Dasychone cingulata is, according to Fauvel (1955), very closely related to the Red
Sea Dasychone lucculana and needs further clarification. Scottolana longipes has
been considered as "pre-Lessepsian" only on the basis of its present huge populations along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, which for a meiobenthic organism
would, in the view I earlier expressed (por, 1964) exclude arecent invasion.
Leiognathus klunzingeri seems nevertheless to be anormal Lessepsian migrant. If
the presence of Eurythoe complanata at Beirut-before the opening of the Suez
Canal (Fauvel, 1955)-is a reliable fact, then this species would be a good case of a
"pre-Lessepsian" migrant. However, this species is later characterized by Fishelson and Rullier (1969) as circumtropical. Some degree of uncertainty is related to
the case of Dugong dugon, the Indo-Pacific sea cow, which is considered to have
lived in the Eastern Mediterranean at the time of the Phoenician and classical
Greek cuItures (Kingdon, 1971).