Research surveys were conducted monthly between July 2002 and June 2003 along the coast of Iskenderun Bay. A total of 1746 crabs were captured at 6 localities in depths of 4 to 50 m. Twenty different species were identified. Among these, Atergatis roseus (Rüppell, 1830), Charybdis helleri (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867), Charybdis longicollis Leene, 1938, Ixa monodi Holthuis & Gottlieb, 1956, Myra subgranulata Kossmann, 1877, and Portunus pelagicus (Linnaeus, 1758) are of Indo-Pacific origin. Nine species, Dromia personata (Linnaeus, 1758), Eriphia verrucosa (Forskål, 1775), Ethusa mascarone (Herbst, 1785), Liocarcinus depurator (Linnaeus, 1758), Liocarcinus navigator (Herbst, 1794), Macropodia rostrata (Linnaeus, 1761), Maja squinado (Herbst, 1788), Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Fabricius, 1787), and Portumnus latipes (Pennant, 1777) were recorded for the first time from this bay. The most abundant species found in the bay were Charybdis longicollis, Portunus pelagicus, and Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896. |
