Invading bivalves replaced native Mediterranean bivalves, with little effect on the local benthic community.

ABSTRACT: The construction of the Suez Canal connected the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, which allowed rapid marine bio-invasion. Over the last century, several bivalve species have invaded the Levantine basin, yet their distribution and impact on the benthic community have not been thoroughly studied. Large-scale benthic surveys along the rocky substrate of the Israeli Mediterranean coastline indicate that invading bivalves, such as Spondylus spinosus, Brachidontes pharaonis, and Pinctada radiata, now dominate the rocky environment, with densities of tens to hundreds of individuals per m². No native bivalve specimens were found in any of the transects surveyed. The small-scale ecological effects of the established invading populations on the benthic community we

SUBMITTER: Diga R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9764321 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature