ИСТИНА

An intertidal biodiversity survey of marine macrofauna of Kuwait was conducted at 36 transects, from Khor-Al-Subiya in the north to the border with Saudi Arabia in the south, including sites at mainland areas and five offshore islands. These transects were sampled qualitatively and quantitatively during the late autumn and winter between 2013 and 2016. Preliminary results of this Project were presented at the 12th International Polychaete Conference in Cardiff (Wales, UK) in 2016. Of 750 macrofaunal species distinguished at that time, 29% (179 species from 48 families) were polychaetes. Extra surveys were conducted at Umm Al-Namel, Auha and Miscan Islands from October 2018 to October 2019. Nereididae and Spionidae were the most species-rich families. Fifty-four (30%) of the identified species were new to the Arabian Gulf, and a great part of the unidentified species included undescribed species new to science. Here we present an update in the identification of polychaetes collected from Kuwait. To date, seven papers on the taxonomy and biology of Kuwaiti polychaetes have been published in international journals. Nine species from the families Serpulidae,Spionidae, and Opheliidae have been described as new, one species of Orbiniidae is in process of description. The taxonomic status of most of them has been clarified by the molecular data. Reproductive biology and larval morphology are described for four species of the family Spionidae. The identification of the collected polychaetes is still ongoing, but the data obtained have shown the extreme diversity of the Arabian Gulf polychaete fauna, most of whose species are still waiting to be studied.