Abstract
The Sinai Peninsula is surrounded by high-salinity seas and bordered by saline lagoons. The geologically long-lasting high-saline conditions have resulted in the formation of a metahaline marine fauna in the Red Sea. Metahaline marine elements also inhabit the saline lagoons with salinities up to 60 to 80‰ In open lagoons, beyond these values, a hyperhaline community of marine euryhaline organisms has established itself. Only beyond 100‰ S, or if the lagoon has no open connection with the sea, is this community replaced by hypersaline continental fresh-water elements. These observations are also discussed in the light of possible generalizations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Ashbel, D.: Bioclimatic atlas of Israel and the near East, 154 pp. Jerusalem: Meteorological Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1950.
Bayly, I. A. E.: The biological classification of aquatic environments with special reference to those of Australia. In: Australian inland waters and their fauna, pp 78–104. Ed. by A. H. Weatherby. Canberra, Australian National University Press 1967.
— and W. D. Williams: Chemical and biological studies on some saline lakes of South-East Australia. Aust. J. mar. Freshwat. Res. 17, 177–228 (1966).
Beadle, L. C.: An ecological survey of some inland saline waters of Algeria. J. Linn. Soc. 41 (278), 218–242 (1943a).
—: Osmotic regulation and the faunas of inland waters. Biol. Rev. 18, 172–183 (1943b).
Bond, R. M.: Investigation of some Hispaniolan lakes (Dr. R. M. Bond's Expedition). II. Hydrology and hydrobiology. Arch. Hydrobiol. 28, 137–161 (1935).
Dahl, E.: Ecological salinity boundaries in poikilohaline waters. Oikos 7, 1–21 (1956).
Day, J. H.: The ecology of South African estuaries. I. A review of estuarine conditions in general. Trans. R. Soc. S. Afr. 33, (1), 53–91 (1951).
Eckstein, Y.: Physiochemical limnology and geology of a meromictic pond on the Red Sea shore. Limnol. Oceanogr. 15 (3), 363–372 (1970).
Gitay, A.: A review of Augeneriella (Polychaeta Sabellidae) and a new species from Northern Sinai. Israel J. Zool. 19, 105–109 (1970)
Gohar, H. A. F.: The place of the Red Sea between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. Istanb. Univ. Fen. Fak. Hidrobiol. (Seri B-2) 47–82 (1954).
Gurney, R.: Report on the Crustacea Copepoda of brinepools Kabret. Trans. zool. Soc. Lond. 22, 173–177 (1927a).
— Report on the Crustacea Copepoda (littoral and semiparasitic). Trans. zool. Soc. Lond. 22, 451–577 (1927b).
Hedgpeth, J. W.: The classification of estuarine and brackish waters and the hydrographic climate. Rep. Comm. Treatise mar. Ecol. Palaeoecol., Wash. 11, 49–54 (1951).
—: The population of hypersaline and relict lagoons. Int. Congr. Zool. (Copenhagen; Hydrobiology) 14, 452–453 (1956).
— Estuaries and lagoons. II. Biological aspects. In: Treatise on marine ecology and paleoecology, Vol. 1 pp 673–749. Ed. by J. W., Hedgpeth. New York: Geological Society of America 1957.
— Some preliminary considerations of the biology of mineral waters. Arch Oceanogr. Limnol. 11 (Suppl.) 110–141 (1958)
— Ecological aspects of the Laguna Madre, a hypersaline estuary. Estuaries, Publs Am. Ass. Advmt Sci. 83, 407–419 (1967).
Hildebrand, H. H.: Estudios biologicos preliminares sobre la Laguna Madre de Tamaulipas. Ciencia, Méx. 17 (7–9), 151–173 (1958).
Kinsman, J. J.: Reef coral tolerance of high temperatures and salinities. Nature, Lond. 202, 1280–1282 (1964).
Klausewitz, W.: Foreword to: Synopsis der Fische des Roten Meeres. Ed. by C. B., Klunzinger. Weinheim: J. Cramer 1964.
— Remarks on the zoogeographical situation of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Annali Mus. civ. Stor. nat. Giacoma Doria 77, 323–328 (1968).
Löffler, H.: Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Iranischen Binnengewässer. II. Regional limnologische Studien mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Crustaceenfauna. Int. Revue ges. Hydrobiol. 46 (3), 309–406 (1961).
Logan, Brian W.: Cryptozoon and associate stromatolites from the recent, Sharks Bay Western Australia. J. Geol. 69 (5), 517–533 (1961).
Luksch, J.: Expedition S.M. Schiff “Pola” in das Rothe Meer, XVIII Physikalische Untersuchungen. Denkschr. Akad. Wiss., Wien 69, (1901).
Lyle, L.: Algae of the Suez Canal. J. Bot., London 68, 327–333 (1930).
Macan, T. T.: Freshwater ecology, Vol. I—X. 388 pp. London: Longmans 1963.
Morcos, A. S.: Die Verteilung des Salzgehaltes im Suez Kanal. Kieler Meeresforsch. 16 (2), 133–154(1960).
— Effect of the Asswan high dam on the current regime in the Suez Canal, Nature, Lond. 214, 901–902 (1967).
— Physical and chemical oceanography of the Red Sea. Oceanogr. mar. Biol. A. Rev. 8, 73–202 (1970).
Omer-Cooper, J.: The Armstrong College Expedition to Siva Oasis (Lybian Desert) 1935, General Report, Proc. Egypt. Acad. Sci. 3, 1–51 (1948).
Pearse, J. S.: Reproductive periodicity of Indo-Pacific invertebrates in the Gulf of Suez. I. The echinoids Prionocidaris baculosa(Lamarck) Lovenia elongata (Gray), Bull. mar. Sci. 19, (2), 323–350 (1969).
Por, F. D.: Un nouveau thermosbenace de la dépression de la Mer Morte. Crustaceana 3, 304–310 (1962).
— Limnology of the heliothermal Solar Lake on the coast of Sinai (Gulf of Elat). Verh. int. Verein. theor. angew. Limnol. 17, 1031–1034 (1969).
— One hundred years of Suez Canal — a century of Lessepsian migration: retrospect and viewpoints. Syst. Zool. 20, 138–159 (1971).
Por, F. D. The invertebrate zoobenthos of the Sirbonian lagoon Sabkhat el Bardawil. Rapp. P.-v. Réun. Commn int. Explor. Scient. Mer Méditerr. (In press, a).
Por, F. D. The benthic copepods of the Sirbonian lagoon (Sabkhat el Bardawil). Cah. Biol. mar. (In press, b).
Remane, A. und E. Schulz: Die Strandzone des Roten Meeres und ihre Tiewelt, Kieler Meeresforsch.20 (Sdbd), 5–17 (1964).
Segerstråle, S. G.: Brackish water classification, a historical survey. Archo Oceanogr. Limnol. 11 (Suppl.), 7–33 (1959).
Sewell, R. B. S.: The free-swimming planktonic Copepoda. Geographical distribution. Scient. Rep. John Murray Exped 8, (3), 317–592 (1948).
Zenkevitch, L.: Biology of the seas of the U.S.S.R., 955 pp. London: Allen & Unwin 1963.
Zernov, S. A.: Allgemeine Hydrobiologie, [German transl., 1958] 676 pp. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften 1948.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by O. Kinne, Hamburg
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Por, F.D. Hydrobiological notes on the high-salinity waters of the Sinai Peninsula. Mar. Biol. 14, 111–119 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00373210
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00373210