Browsing by Author "Belattmania, Zahira"
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- Record of the first Pleonexes species (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Ampithoidae) in Moroccan waters: Pleonexes gammaroides Spence Bate, 1857Publication . Kaid, Soukaina; Chaouti, Abdellatif; Mateus, M.; Belattmania, Zahira; Serrao, Ester; Engelen, Aschwin H.; Reani, Abdeltif; Sabour, BrahimThe ampithoid amphipod crustacean Pleonexes gammaroides Spence Bate, 1857 is reported from Morocco (northeastern Atlantic Ocean) for the first time, where it is the only representative of the genus Pleonexes Spence Bate, 1857 so far. Specimens were collected from the upper fringe of the infralittoral zone (including low intertidal) of El Jadida coastline associated with the holdfasts of the kelp Saccorhiza polyschides (Lightfoot) Batters (Phaeophyceae), colonising the sublittoral fringe in the southernmost distribution limit (Morocco). This finding updates the known geographical distribution of P. gammaroides in northern Africa and northeastern Atlantic. Some ecological and distributional details of this amphipod species are briefly discussed here.
- Spatiotemporal variation of the epifaunal assemblages associated to Sargassum muticum on the NW Atlantic coast of MoroccoPublication . Belattmania, Zahira; Chaouti, Abdellatif; Engelen, Aschwin; Serrao, Ester; Machado, Margarida; Reani, Abdeltif; Sabour, BrahimEpifaunal assemblages inhabiting the non-indigenous macroalga Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt were investigated on two physically distinct intertidal rocky (S1) and sandy (S2) sites along the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The objective of this study was to test whether the habitat-forming marine alga S. muticum invasive in these sites supported different epifaunal assemblages under different environmental conditions and through time. The gastropods Steromphala umbilicalis, S. pennanti, and Rissoa parva and the isopod Dynamene bidentata were the most contributive species to the dissimilarity of epifaunal assemblage structure between both sites throughout seasons. SIMPER analysis showed a dissimilarity of 58.3-78.5% in the associated species composition of S. muticum between study sites with respect to sampling season. Species diversity and total abundance were significantly higher at the rocky site compared to the sandy site. PERMANOVA analyses showed significant differences of associated epifaunal assemblage structure for the season and site interaction. Accordingly, site and season were determinant factors conditioning the role of habitat in structuring epifaunal assemblages.
- The invasive Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 expands its distributional range southward to Atlantic African shores: first records along the Atlantic coast of MoroccoPublication . Chaouti, Abdellatif; Belattmania, Zahira; Nadri, Amal; Serrao, Ester; Encarnação, João; Teodosio, Maria; Reani, Abdeltif; Sabour, BrahimThe occurrence of the exotic Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae) is reported for the first time from the Moroccan Atlantic coast. Working with local fishermen, we gathered 160 records of the Atlantic blue crab from several estuarine, coastal and marine areas, in the period between June and August 2021. These new records confirm its establishment in the Atlantic coasts of North Africa, suggesting a southern range expansion. These findings, likely exacerbated by growing populations along the Atlantic coast of Morocco and temperate coastal waters, provide new insights into the invasion dynamics of this species in the northeast Atlantic Ocean.