Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Válogatott tanulmányok XII. - Natura Somogyiensis 27. (Kaposvár, 2015)
Héra Z. - Haris A.: Marine molluscs from Marsa El Brega, Libya (Mollusca: Gastropoda and Bivaliva)
Natura Somogyiensis 27 37-44 Kaposvár, 2015 Marine molluscs from Marsa El Brega, Libya (Mollusca: Gastropoda and Bivaliva) Zoltán Héra1 & Attila Haris2 1H-7461 Kaposvár, Tamási Áron u. 9., Hungary, e-mail: herazg@gmail.com 2H-1076 Budapest, Garay u. 19 2/20, Hungary, e-mail: attilaharis@yahoo.com Héra, Z. & Haris, A.: Marine molluscs from Marsa El Brega, Libya (Mollusca: Gastropoda and Bivaliva). Abstract: Fourty marine mollusc species are reported from Marsa El Brega, Libya. This is the seventh report on the marine molluscan fauna of this country. New records to the Libyan fauna are: Phorcus turbinatus (Born, 1780), Erosaria spurca (Linnaeus, 1758), Natica maculata Deshayes, 1838, Venus verrucosa Linnaeus, 1758, Cerastoderma edule (Linnaeus, 1758) and Parvicardium exiguum (Gmelin, 1791). Keywords: Mediterranean Sea, Libya, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Bivalvia, sea snails, sea shells, new records Introduction According to the report of Bazari et. al, 2010, the coastal part of the Mediterranean Sea is a biological and evolutional hot-spot. The species richness of marine gastropodes reaches the approximate 2000 species (Zenetos et ah, 2002). The proportion of the endemic species amounts 18-19 percent. According to the geographical division of the Mediterranean Sea, the investigated area is part of the Ionian and Central Mediterranean region. The average chlorophylle concentration is far the lovest here: in the coastal areas it varies between 0.1 and 0.2 mg/cubicmeter. Although the organic load of the sea-water is low here, the household and industrial solid waste extensively covers the costal area of Marsa El Brega. The other endangering factor is the increase of introduced species. The number of exotic species in the Mediterranean Sea is currently about 1,000 and their rate of introduction is considered to be one species in each 1.5 weeks, see also Gofas & Zenetos 2003. Although the number of marine protected areas is high in the Mediterranean Sea, there is still no protected area in this region due to the lack of nature conservation investigations caused by the political situation and the current conflicts and instability. Material and methods The junior author did regular collections on the coastal area of Marsa El Brega from 2nd of January till 7th of February 2014 on daily basis between: 30°26'2.87"N, 19°38T8.47"E and 30°25'3 1,03"N, 19°37'51.87"E.
