ИСТИНА

Thirty intertidal and six subtidal transects throughout Kuwait’s coastal zone, including five islands, were sampled qualitatively and quantitatively during late autumn and winter seasons from December 2013 to March 2016. All samples have been processed for fauna ≥ 0.5 mm, and sorted to the lowest possible taxon. Intertidal areas ranged from < 100 to > 1000 m, and consisted of hard, rocky or muddy substrata or combinations of sand, mud, and rocky substrata. To date, 618 macrofauna taxa have been identified as follows: 32 % crustaceans, 30 % mollusks, 29 % polychaetes, 4 % fishes, 1.9 % echinoderms, 1.6 % anthozoans, 0.7 % Porifera, 0.5 % Sipuncula, and 0.3 % Nemertea. Polychaetes represent the third most diverse group with 179 species belonging to 48 families. Previously 231 species were recorded for the Arabian Gulf (Wehe & Fiege, 2002). With 17 species, Nereididae and Spionidae were the most species-rich polychaete families. Nereidid species often dominated rocky substrata, but were also common in sandy and muddy sediments. Six species of Eunicidae and eight species of Serpulidae were very common on rocky substrata. Paraonidae and Cirratulidae characterized muddy areas, while Capitellidae, Glyceridae, Paraonidae, Saccocirridae, Syllidae were most common in sandy beaches. Five families of polychaetes are new to the Arabian Gulf: Nerillidae, Protodrilidae, Paralacydonidae, Polygordiidae, and Sphaerodoridae. Fifty-four (30%) of the identified polychaete species are new to the Arabian Gulf. Species identifications are ongoing.