The Isopod Crustacea of Fethiye Bay, Levantine Sea, Turkey

WOS: 000423988600007
Research surveys were conducted in a protection area between June and September 2008 along the coast of Fethiye Bay, Turkey. A total of 999 specimens of isopods belonging to 15 families and 41 species were captured at 82 localities with depths ranging between 0 and 30 m from various substrates. Of these, 25 species (Cleantis prismatica, Astacilla longicornis, Apanthura corsica, Jaera hopeana, Janira maculosa, J. nordmanni, Bopyrus squillarum, Cirolana cranchii, Eurydice affinis, Cymodoce emarginata, C. hanseni, C. tuberculata, C. spinosa, Dynamene bifida, D. edwardsi, D. magnitorata, Ischyromene lacazei, Lekanesphaera monodi, Sphaeroma walkeri, Joeropsis brevicornis littoralis, Limnoria lignorum, Paranthura nigropunctata, Synischia hectica, Stenosoma capito, Halophiloscia couchi) were new records from the Levantine Sea coast of Turkey. The most abundant species found in Fethiye Bay were Ligia italica, J. hopeana and J. maculosa.
Environmental Protection Agency for Special Areas, Republic of Turkey
The study was financially supported by the Environmental Protection Agency for Special Areas, Republic of Turkey. The authors thank the scuba and snorkelling team members, Drs. M. E. Cinar, M. Bilecenoglu, B. Ozturk, E. Dagli, A. Dogan, E. S. Okudan, M. B. Yokes, and F. Ondes. We would also like to thank B. Ergev, O. Taktak, and K. Ozyurt of Derinsu Underwater Engineering Inc., our safety diving officer S. Sozen, and the captain E. Dinc and the crew of "Dinc Bu" for their kind support during the field work.