Checklist of Sipuncula from the coasts of Turkey

Abstract

The present paper provides an updated taxonomic list of sipunculan species known from the coasts of Turkey. A total of 21 species belonging to 5 families have been reported from the region. Eighteen species were determined in the Levantine Sea, 17 species in the Aegean Sea, 6 species in the Sea of Marmara, and a single species in the Black Sea. The family Golfingiidae had the majority of species (8 species, 38%), followed by Phascolosomatidae (5 species, 24%), Aspidosiphonidae (4 species, 19%), Phascolionidae (3 species, 14%), and Sipunculidae (1 species, 5%), respectively. The hotspot areas for the sipunculan species richness were Anamur (12 species) and the Fethiye-Göcek Specially Protected Area (11 species) in the Levantine Sea, and İzmir Bay (10 species) in the Aegean Sea. Four alien species [Nephasoma (N.) eremita, Apionsoma (A.) misakianum, Aspidosiphon (A.) mexicanus, and Aspidosiphon (A.) elegans] have been encountered from the region, of which A. (A.) misakianum was the most common species. This paper also gives a brief description of all species together with figures and distributional features.

Alien Sipuncula species in the Mediterranean Sea

“…( A .) misakianum was found at 2287 m depth in South Crete and at 0–460 m depths in other parts of the Mediterranean Sea (Açik, 2014; Saiz Salinas, 2016). Aspidosiphon ( A. )…”

“…elegans . Scale bars: A = 2 mm, B = 0.5 mm, C and D = 2 mm, E = 0.5 mm, F = 1 mm, G = 2 mm, H = 1 mm (A, E = from Açik, 2011, B–D, F = from Ferrero-Vicente et al 2016; G = from Açik, 2014, H = from Açik, 2008b). …”

“…In the Mediterranean, only a few specimens of this species were recorded from Malta, the Lampedusa Islands, the Adriatic and the Greek coasts until 2008 (Pancucci-Papadopoulou et al ., 1999). Records made after this date showed that this species is widely distributed from littoral waters to 429 m depth (Figure 4) in the eastern and western basins of the Mediterranean Sea (Açik, 2008a, 2009, 2010a, 2011, 2014; Mifsud & Saiz Salinas, 2011/2012; Çinar et al ., 2012; Saiz Salinas, 2016). It has been collected from sandy mud, muddy sand, sand, mud, gravel bottoms, empty mollusc shells, rocks, Posidonia oceanica and Zostera marina (Ferrero-Vicente et al , 2016).…”

“…Wesenberg-Lund (1957) firstly reported it within the Mediterranean from the Israeli coast (Figure 2). It was later found at 0–14 m depths in the Rijeka Bay (Adriatic Sea), and in shallow waters along the Turkish and Lebanese coasts (Figure 2) (Zavodnik, 1998; Açik, 2008b, 2014; Saiz Salinas, 2016). This species has been found in various habitats including Posidonia oceanica , algae, calcareous rock, mussel and the coral Cladocora caespitosa (Açik, 2008a, b, 2010a, b, 2011).…”

Sipuncula inhabiting the coral Oculina patagonica in the western Mediterranean Sea

“…Despite it being the dominant sipunculan species inhabiting the O. patagonica skeleton samples (65.4 % of the total number of individuals) there are just a few records of the species around the Mediterranean Sea (PancucciPapadopoulou et al 1999;Açik 2014). As suggested by Pancucci-Papadopoulou et al (Pancucci-Papadopoulou et al 1999), early identifications of P. stephensoni might have been misidentified as P. granulatum, a common and previously known species in the Mediterranean.…”