RECENT BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THE RED SEA ALONG THE A.R.E. COASTS 1- On Some Demersal Fishes of Economic Importance from the Red Sea with notes on migration of fish tbreugh the Suez Canal.

RECENT BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THE RED SEA
ALONG THE A.R.E. COASTS
1- On Some Demersal Fishes of Economic Importance from the Red Sea
with notes on migration of fish tbreugh the Suez Canal.
By
Dr. A. R. BAYOUMI
Red Sea Institute Of OaefJnog’faphy and Fishe’ltes

INTRODUCTIO~
,i
,~iolQgical knowledge of the important e~onomic fishes is sometimes hindered
ity the lack of complete and comprehensive taxonomical work. The Rod Sea
,and ~he Gulf of Suez are in this respect the least studied areas in the Indo-Pacific
region. ‘
Earlier works in the Red Sea as Luksch (190]) Vercelli (1925) Sa.nzo (1930),
Mabahiss (The John Murray Expedition 1933-1931), as well as the Cambridge
Expedil~ion to the Suez Canal Fox (1926) are mainly hydrological ones.
From the biological and taxonomical aspects the Red Sea bad by no means
been e~plored. Our knowledge of its fauna goes back to the time of ForBkal (1775),
Ruppel (1837), Klunzinger (1870, 1884), Gunther (1870), Keller (1882) and SteiLd
achner (1898}.
After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 several fishes have entered the
canal and its lakes from both the Red and the Mediterranean Seas. The most
earlier note in this respect might be on the fishes sent to the British Museum
(Natural History) in 1871. Tillier (1902) recorded about 80 species of fish in the
Suez Oanal. The excha3.ges between the fish fauna of the Mediterranean and
the Red Sea have posed au important problem however little work have beon
done. This problem has been worked by Norman (J 927 and 1929); Chabanaud
(193], 1933, 1933 and] 934:); Gruvel and Ohabanaud (1937); Bertin (1943): Haas
and Steinitz (1947); Kosswig (1950); Tortenese (193~ and 191)4:); Clark and, Gohar
(1953); Ben Tuvia (1953, 1963 and 1966) and Gohar (1954). ‘
Recently the North “\\Testern Red Sea area as well as the Gulf of Suez and the
Gulf of Aqaba have been the subject for study of some groups of Fish from the
morphological and physiological point of view. ‘ ‘
Mention may be made of AI-Hussaini (1947) Gohar (1918), Melouk (1949),
1953 and 1957), Marshall (1952), Hamdy (] 952 and 195tJ), EI-Toubi ap.d Hamdy
(] 959), GohaI’ and Bayoumi (1959), Gohar and Latif (1959), Nassef (1961), Gohar
and Mazhar \1964 a and b), Badawi (1964), EI-Kholy (1965), Gorgy (1966), Latif
(1967) and Bayoumi (1967 a and band 19f9).
Research has been in progress on some of the economic fishes in the area
including families Synodontida.e, Mullidae, Scaridae, Lethrinidae, Sparidae, Sphyraenidae, Carangidae and Platycephalidae. The results of the:;e studies will
be published in due time.
Neverthless from the above D\entioned historicd review, it is clear that the
Fish Fauna of the Red Sea has been neglected for a long time, and a comprehensive
8urvey and continued study of the fauna of this area and neighbouring waters
are badly needed. Therefore, with the facilities of the Institute of Oceanography
and Fisheries the author has been studying the fish fauna of the North-western
Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez as well as the Suez Canal a.nd its r…akes. The results of
such investigation will be published in a series.