The echinoderm (Deuterostomia) fauna of the Aegean Sea,
and comparison with those of the neighbouring seas
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ATHANASIOS KOUKOURAS, APOSTOLOS I. SINIS, DIMITRA BOBORI,
SAVAS KAZANTZIDIS and MILTIADIS-SPYRIDON KITSOS
Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, 541 24, Greece |
Abstract
Earlier and recent sampling carried out in the Aegean Sea revealed the
presence of 20 asteroid, 14 ophiuroid, 21 echinoid, and 1 holothuroid
species. The ophiuroid Monaphiura apicula, and the echinoids
Arbaciella elegans, Echinus melo and Hemiaster
expergitus are recorded for the first time in the Eastern
Mediterranean; the latter has previously been known only from the
Western Mediterranean. The ophiuroid Amphiura (Acrocnida) brachiata
is recorded for the first time in the Aegean Sea. For all species,
information on their distribution and habitat is given. A checklist of
the Mediterranean and Black Sea echinoderms, as well as their
distribution in the Mediterranean territorial areas and the Black Sea
are also presented. Furthermore, the faunas of the Mediterranean
territorial areas are compared. According to the considered data, the
number of species decreases as follows: Western Mediterranean, Aegean
Sea, Adriatic Sea, Central Mediterranean, Levantine Sea and Black Sea.
Species with an Atlanto-Mediterranean distribution dominate in all areas
and are followed in numbers by the Mediterranean endemics and
cosmopolitans. Four species of Indo-Pacific origin are located in the
Levantine and SE Aegean seas.
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