| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1999 |
| Authors: | Morri, C., Bianchi, C. N. |
| Journal: | Cahiers de Biologie MarineCahiers de Biologie Marine |
| Volume: | 40 |
| Pagination: | 283-291 |
| Date Published: | 1999/// |
| Keywords: | Aegean sea, Cystoseira, Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Epiphytes, fouling, Hydroids |
| Abstract: | The hydroid fauna of the Mediterranean Sea is one of the best known in the world, nevertheless in the Aegean Sea this fauna remains nearly unexplored. This paper reports on 31 species collected in the two Aegean islands of Kos, in the Dodecanese, and Milos, in the Cyclades. Twenty-two species were collected on algae, chiefly on Cystoseira. Different hydroid species occupy specific regions of algal thalli; and different algal species harbour different hydroid assemblages. Five species were collected among the fouling communities on oceanographic instruments, eight species on other substrata. All the species collected were already known from the Western Mediterranean and showed consistent ecology and depth distribution. The present record raises to 67 the total of hydroid species (or subspecific taxa) known from the Aegean Sea and nearby waters of Greece and Turkey. This figure is extremely low by comparison with the 379 species known for the Mediterranean Sea. |