The Impact of Some Environmental Factors on the Distribution of the Benthic Ostracod Species from of Safaga Island, Red Sea, Egypt

Abstract

The benthic ostracods of Red Sea of Egypt have received little attention in ecological studies. Temperature, depth, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, and other environmental variables all have an impact on benthic ostracods. This study aimed to determine the influence of environmental parameters on the distribution of benthic ostracods by determining the similarity and dissimilarity between the eight collection sites, investigating the regional distribution form by accomplished Multidimensional Scaling (MDS), and recognizing the percentage of the influence of each species on the resemblances and variances within the clusters formed by SIMPER analysis, determining the relationships between depth and other factors by Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. A total of 43 ostracod species had been identified. According to the frequency index, a single species was rare, six were common and the remaining species (36) were dominant. Seven ostracods species were found across all sites and Cytherelloidea sp. was found in two. The abundance and richness of ostracod species were correlated positively with water temperature, dissolved oxygen, organic matter, salinity, and calcium carbonate. The cold water is preferred by the ostracods Cylindroleberis vix and Prionotoleberis lux and the warm water is favored by podocopid ostracods. The findings of this study will aid in the identification of ostracod species, as well as understanding the characteristics and ecological variables in this zone of the Red Sea in Egypt. The current investigation is an attempt to shed the light on the features of ostracods that live on the east side of Safaga Island.