84
The Suez Canal
would-be settlers of the Canal have to pass on their way, a ftrst sieve in the
"sieving channeI" ofthe Suez Canal.
Ghor Blayim also known as EI Bilaiyim is a twin lagoon on the Sinai coast of
the Gulf of Suez. The northern lagoon, 2 km long and 800-1000 m wide, has a
depth of 15 m; the southern lagoon is smaller and shallower (up to 8 m). There is a
1-1.5 m deep narrow opening to the sea. The salinity reaches 48%0 in high summer
while in the winter it is nearer to open sea salinities, i.e. 41-42%0.
The northern lagoon is more sandy, with Tellina sp. as dominant mollusc. In
the southern lagoon, bottoms are predominantly rocky at shallow depths. Vegetation shows a typical zonation with Digenea simplex in the shallows, Halophila
stipulacea and Caulerpa racemosa below, and Sargassum and Halimeda at depths
of 2-3 m. There is a monospeciftc coral reef in the lagoon, formed of Stylophora,
the most metahaline resistant Red Sea scleractinian. According to Loya (1976)
this is a typical r strategist, a pioneer species. The soft corals are represented by
only one species, Sinularia. Remarkable for our purpose is the fauna of molluscs
and of ftsh. Besides Spondylus and Chama broderipi, which are not represented in
the Suez Canal, the dominant molluscs are Pinctada radiata, Mactra olorina,
Malleus regula, Fusinus marmoratus, Strombus tricornis, Murex tribulus, and Diodora rüppellii-all successful migrants into the Canal and even into the Mediterranean. The ftsh fauna, although not completely investigated, is characterized
by estuarine species: outstanding is the presence of Serranus cabrilla, Dicentrarchus punctatus, and Liza aurata, three euryhaline species, two of them of Mediterranean origins (Ben-Tuvia, 1971 b, 1975b, personal communication). According to Lipkin (1972 b) the vegetation of the Bitter Lakes is comparable to that of
the Bilaiyim lagoon, and represents a more hypersaline variety of the latter. The
parasitofauna of the Bilaiyim ftshes has much in common to that of the Bardawil
lagoon (I. Paperna, personal communication).
Further investigation on the fauna of EI Bilaiyim will no doubt increase the
number of similarities with the Bitter Lakes. Por (1969a) for example found
considerable similarities in the Canuellidae (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) inhabiting the two metahaline water bodies. Two of the isopods living in the Suez Canal,
Synidotea hirtipes and Cymodoce truncata have also been recorded by Glynn
(1972) from EI Bilaiyim.
The Mangroves of Southern Sinai present salinities as high as 47%0 (Por and
Dor, 1975b) and can also be considered as environments in which adaptation of
Red Sea biota to metahaline conditions took place. Here again Digenea and
Halophila are dominant plants, associated with other Suez Canal species: Halodule uninervis, Spyridia Jilamentosa, Laurencia papillosa, and Caulerpa racemosa.
Among the molluses widespread in the Sinai mangrove we can mention again
Strombus tricornis and Fusinus marmoratus, together with Cerithium scabridum
and Brachidontes variabilis. The medusa Cassiopea andromeda and Palaemon
pacificus are very common in between the mangrove trees and aerial roots.
Di Zahav pool (Por and Dor, 1975a) is a small (110 m x 70 m) pool on the Gulf
of Elat coast of Sinai, which communicates with the open sea only through
Map 2. Israel and Sinai coasts (Israel: Cease Fire Lmes, 1967) [from Por et al., 1972,
reprinted from Israel J. Zool. 21 (3-4)]
The Suez Canal
would-be settlers of the Canal have to pass on their way, a ftrst sieve in the
"sieving channeI" ofthe Suez Canal.
Ghor Blayim also known as EI Bilaiyim is a twin lagoon on the Sinai coast of
the Gulf of Suez. The northern lagoon, 2 km long and 800-1000 m wide, has a
depth of 15 m; the southern lagoon is smaller and shallower (up to 8 m). There is a
1-1.5 m deep narrow opening to the sea. The salinity reaches 48%0 in high summer
while in the winter it is nearer to open sea salinities, i.e. 41-42%0.
The northern lagoon is more sandy, with Tellina sp. as dominant mollusc. In
the southern lagoon, bottoms are predominantly rocky at shallow depths. Vegetation shows a typical zonation with Digenea simplex in the shallows, Halophila
stipulacea and Caulerpa racemosa below, and Sargassum and Halimeda at depths
of 2-3 m. There is a monospeciftc coral reef in the lagoon, formed of Stylophora,
the most metahaline resistant Red Sea scleractinian. According to Loya (1976)
this is a typical r strategist, a pioneer species. The soft corals are represented by
only one species, Sinularia. Remarkable for our purpose is the fauna of molluscs
and of ftsh. Besides Spondylus and Chama broderipi, which are not represented in
the Suez Canal, the dominant molluscs are Pinctada radiata, Mactra olorina,
Malleus regula, Fusinus marmoratus, Strombus tricornis, Murex tribulus, and Diodora rüppellii-all successful migrants into the Canal and even into the Mediterranean. The ftsh fauna, although not completely investigated, is characterized
by estuarine species: outstanding is the presence of Serranus cabrilla, Dicentrarchus punctatus, and Liza aurata, three euryhaline species, two of them of Mediterranean origins (Ben-Tuvia, 1971 b, 1975b, personal communication). According to Lipkin (1972 b) the vegetation of the Bitter Lakes is comparable to that of
the Bilaiyim lagoon, and represents a more hypersaline variety of the latter. The
parasitofauna of the Bilaiyim ftshes has much in common to that of the Bardawil
lagoon (I. Paperna, personal communication).
Further investigation on the fauna of EI Bilaiyim will no doubt increase the
number of similarities with the Bitter Lakes. Por (1969a) for example found
considerable similarities in the Canuellidae (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) inhabiting the two metahaline water bodies. Two of the isopods living in the Suez Canal,
Synidotea hirtipes and Cymodoce truncata have also been recorded by Glynn
(1972) from EI Bilaiyim.
The Mangroves of Southern Sinai present salinities as high as 47%0 (Por and
Dor, 1975b) and can also be considered as environments in which adaptation of
Red Sea biota to metahaline conditions took place. Here again Digenea and
Halophila are dominant plants, associated with other Suez Canal species: Halodule uninervis, Spyridia Jilamentosa, Laurencia papillosa, and Caulerpa racemosa.
Among the molluses widespread in the Sinai mangrove we can mention again
Strombus tricornis and Fusinus marmoratus, together with Cerithium scabridum
and Brachidontes variabilis. The medusa Cassiopea andromeda and Palaemon
pacificus are very common in between the mangrove trees and aerial roots.
Di Zahav pool (Por and Dor, 1975a) is a small (110 m x 70 m) pool on the Gulf
of Elat coast of Sinai, which communicates with the open sea only through
Map 2. Israel and Sinai coasts (Israel: Cease Fire Lmes, 1967) [from Por et al., 1972,
reprinted from Israel J. Zool. 21 (3-4)]