Spatial and temporal community composition changes of Cumacea (Crustacea: Malacostraca: Peracarida) from the soft-sediment habitats of the Mediterranean coast of Israel

Abstract

The present study provides a zoogeographic and faunistic update on the cumacean species that inhabit the soft substrate habitats of the Israeli waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Published and new unpublished cumacean records are both used to enable an overview of a 74-year period of species composition and distribution, providing a broad perspective of temporal faunistic changes. As a result, 43 cumacean species have now been recorded from the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Previously unpublished results, starting from 2013, were derived from intensified sampling of the continental shelf and slope as well as the bathyal plain, and revealed eight new species records for the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. The cumacean community included species primarily of the Mediterranean zoogeographic province with several Mediterranean-Atlantic examples. Three species, postulated to be of Indo-Pacific origin were also previously recorded on the continental shelf of the area. Finally, species composition and structure of the continental shelf indicated spatial and temporal changes between 2010 – 2021, partly due to different sampling methods as well as anthropogenic activities that took place in the area. The continental slope and the bathyal plain seem to remain as relatively stable environments.