Alien Crustacean Decapods from the Aegean Coast of Turkey

Abstract

Thirty of the 33 alien decapod crustacean species that have been reported off the Turkish Mediterranean coast are believed to have invaded the region via the Suez Canal, but only three of the species have been recorded along the Turkish Aegean coast. The marine biota of Gkova Bay, Datla Peninsula and Gulf of Fethiye, on the southern Aegean coast of Turkey, was studied by diving between 2002 and 2006. Of the eight Erythrean alien decapod species collected there, five constitute new records for the Aegean Sea and three are newly recorded from the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea.