MEDITERRANEAN MOLLUSCA OF ISRAEL AND SINAI: COMPOSITION AND DISTRIBUTION

Abstract

ABSTRACT A survey of the Mediterranean molluscan fauna of Israel and the Sinai Peninsula was undertaken and 702 species have been recorded: Caudofoveata—2, Polyplacophora—10; Gastropoda—471; Scaphopoda—8; Bivalvia—190; Cephalopoda—21. Most species were collected from the northern part of Israel. The intramediterranean representation of the species found in Israel and Sinai is as follows: the great majority, 601 species, were recorded from the Western Mediterranean, 424 species were from the Aegean Sea, 191 species from the Sea of Marmara, and only 99 species from the Black Sea. The extramediterranean representation is: from the Eastern Atlantic 515 species, mostly from the Ibero-Moroccan region, and 75 species from the Western Atlantic. Sixty seven Indo-Pacific species have been collected along the Mediterranean coasts of Israel and the Sinai Peninsula. The gastropods are mainly inhabitants of the intertidal zone, the bivalves are numerous in the infralittoral zone of the continental shelf.