A new study carried out by marine biologist Dr. Danny Golani of the Hebrew University states that 469 species of fish are wading in Israel's Mediterranean waters today, with a record number of 32 new species having migrated to them from the Red Sea in the last 15 years. Migration due to climate change? Don't count on it. The result, among other things: poisonous fish and poisonous fish are multiplying and establishing themselves these days near the shores of Israel
No less than 62 new species have entered Israel over the past 15 years, of which 32 arrived through the Suez Canal, towards the Mediterranean Sea and created a population explosion the likes of which we did not know before - this is according to a new study by Dr. Dani Golani, marine biologist and curator of the Hebrew University's fish collection , who published an updated list of fish that have entered Israel's Mediterranean waters in a scientific article, published a few days ago in the journal "ZOOTAXA". This is an increase of 15.4% of all fish species and 66.7% of the migratory species from the Red Sea since the last inspection*. In fact, from 2000 until today, every year between 2-3 new Red Sea species are found in the Mediterranean. The study also found that there is a clear increase from decade to decade in the amount of fish migrating to our region, which led to a total of 469 fish species in the Mediterranean waters of Israel.
The migrating fish from the Red Sea reached their territorial waters through the "Lespass migration" - moved from the Red Water, crossed the Suez Canal and reached the Mediterranean Sea (this migration is named after the man responsible for mining the Suez Canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps). Many studies have been done and are still being done on migratory fish populations and species around the world, with the migration process itself of great interest to science as a worldwide phenomenon that affects the distribution of animals and their survival in the seas and oceans. Some of the migratory species are considered invaders of the Mediterranean waters, and they endanger the delicate ecological balance created during millions of years of evolution.
There is no way to stop the migration of fish
"The sharp increase in the number of spp. species since the year 2000 has been noted in almost all tests conducted in the Red Sea," explains the scientific article written by Dr. Golani. "The main reason for this trend is considered to be an increased flow of water between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, due to the newly created 72 km long canal, and the enlargement of certain parts of the Suez Canal itself. There are scientists who note the contribution of climate change, but nevertheless, the local changes in temperature amount to an increase of less than half a degree, therefore climate change may be a minor factor in the migration of fish species".
Dr. Golani does not state in his article whether the mass migration of fish to the Red Sea in general is good or bad for the local fish species, and explains that in any case there is no way to stop the movement of the "migrants" towards us. "All the scientific articles that are published about the attempts to stop this immigration - it is good for researchers to publish such things to add credits to their CV, but these are not practical and actual ideas. Even the cargo ship 'Ever Givan' that was stuck for six days in the Suez Canal cannot stop this migration," the researcher explains this week.
The largest fish that has migrated to us so far is a nimble scumberen (white pallidum, in fishermen's language), which can reach two meters (a commercial fish that migrates along our coasts to the north). An equally large fish is the spotted trigon (belonging to the catfish family) - whose length can reach over three meters, and whose fins can reach a meter and a half/two meters. The smallest fish that migrated to us is a fish from the Cabernon family, which is about 4-5 cm long. "A rich selection of fish migrated to us, occupying almost every habitat and taking over the depths," explains Dr. Golani. "If 20 years ago we were talking about a 100-meter depth of the Gezra border, today they reach 200 meters below sea level."
Stinging and poisonous fish
Two species of fish he would be happy if they did not immigrate to us from the Red Sea. "At least two species that arrived in Israeli waters from the Red Sea in the first decade of the current century have become common species in the Mediterranean Sea, and are currently worrying the best researchers. The first species is the poisonous barbel, a fish poisonous to humans. Fortunately, contact with it has not yet caused death, but there have been many hospitalizations. Fishermen caught them and after sorting their prey tended to throw them dead into the water. They were washed ashore, washed over them and as a result were stabbed, the venom entered their bodies and needed medical treatment. Another species of migratory fish, which also arrived more or less at the same time to our shores, is the long-tailed bream, which belongs to the pufferfish (Abu-Nafha) family. It was first reported in the Mediterranean Sea in 2003 off the coast of Turkey, and today the species is common on the coasts of Israel and the eastern Mediterranean. It is poisonous and not fit for food at all. Many people ate it and were hospitalized. There was even one case of death, but not of an Israeli," adds Dr. Golani.
The results of the present study reveal that apart from the migratory fish there are currently 366 "local" fish species in Israel. To the general calculation, Dr. Golani adds 23 species of fish related to the Lebanese region that have not been recorded in Israel so far, "therefore, the number of local fish is 389 in the Mediterranean region of Israel and Lebanon, not far from the number of local fish recorded in the waters of Turkey - 434 species, and in the waters of Greece - 478 species", he states.
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