First records of polychaetes new to Egyptian Mediterranean waters

Nineteen benthic polychaete species were recorded for the first time inthe intertidal zone of the Alexandria coast, south-eastern Mediterranean Sea. They belong toSyllidae (7 species), Hesionidae (3 species), Serpulidae (2 species) and7 other families (one species each). Of these species Eunice miurai Carrera-Parra& Salazar-Vallejo 1998 appears to be new to the Mediterranean Sea,while four of the alien species earlier recorded in the Mediterranean were found for thefirst time in Egyptian waters: Opisthosyllis brunnea Langerhans 1879,Loimia medusa Savigny 1822, Syllis schulzi Hartmann-Schröder1960, Phyllodoce longifrons Ben-Eliahu 1972. The newly recorded species demonstrated markedly different patterns offrequency of occurrence and numerical abundance. Spirobranchus triqueterLinnaeus 1758, S. schulzi, L. medusa and Salvatoria clavataClaparède 1863 were permanent and abundant species in fouling samples along the Alexandria coast.Saccocirrus papillocercus Bobretzky 1872 persisted in the sediments at two sites,with a much higher count at the stressed one, while Protodrilussp. inhabited sediments at two other sites throughout the year, sometimes invery high numbers. In addition, the alien species found earlier, Braniaarminii Langerhans 1881, Odontosyllis fulgurans Audouin &Milne-Edwards 1833 and O. brunnea Langerhans 1879, were frequentlyobserved along the Alexandria coast.