THE SANDY SHORE OF THE RED-SEA - LAUNCHING PAD FOR LESSEPSIAN (SUEZ CANAL) MIGRANT FISH COLONIZERS OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

A majority of the known Red Sea migrant fish species which colonized the eastern Mediterranean via the Suez Canal occupy a shallow sandy or muddy habitat in their target area. In the present work, the fish assemblage of the comparable habitat in the Red Sea was studied in order to assess whether there are criteria characterizing the source population of the colonizing species. The fish assemblage of the Red Sea sandy shore near Eilat was sampled repeatedly over a period of 2 years. Out of sixty-two species sampled, seventeen (27.4%) were among those colonizing the Mediterranean ('Lessepsian migrants'). The relative importance (IRI) of each of the sixty-two species in this assemblage was determined using frequency of occurrence and gravimetrical and numerical percentage in the samples. The Lessepsian migrant fish species were found to have high IRI values in the sandy shore which they inhabit throughout all their life stages, these characteristics being considered pre-adaptation for successful colonization of their target area, the eastern Mediterranean.