Walaa Safwat Zaghloul

Ecological studies on marine gelatinous zooplankton in the Red Sea Walaa Safwat Zaghloul

Each species on our planet plays a role in the healthy functioning of natural ecosystems, on which humans depend, Gelatinous zooplankton are a conspicuous, but relatively little studied component of marine ecosystems, in recent years its importance in pelagic food webs has gained increased awareness, they are essential components of the marine food web, relaying primary production from microbial algae to fish and seabirds. Marine systems are based on microscopic life and, thus, are generally undervalued. Despite the ecological importance of the gelatinous marine zooplankton in the marine food web so monitoring program is needed to record the recent gelatinous species in the Egyptian waters. The recorded number of gelatinous zooplankton during the present work included 24 species. Hydromedusae were the dominant component among gelatinous zooplankton, consisting on the average about 74.29% of the total gelatinous zooplankton (18 species), followed by scyphomedusae (3 species), and Ctenophore (3 species). thirteen were the first record in the Egyptian Red Sea.