Statistical aspects of the red sea ichthyofauna

The high frequency of additional fish species reported recently from the Red Sea is expected to continue in the coming years as the expected improvement in the political situation will enable field work to be expanded. The rate of endemism is expected to remain stable at 12-13%, its rate for the last 20 years. While new species from the Red Sea are described as endemic, other species which were considered endemic are now reported from other parts of the Indo-Pacific. The low proportion of gobiid species compared to other places such as the Chagos Archipelago, Marshall Islands, Japan, arid even the Mediterranean, reflects both environmental conditions- namely, the absence of estuaries; and a methodological problemnamely, the overlooking of small speeimens. The new finding of deep sea fish will increase their proportion, although not to the level of other part of the Indo-Pacific, because of both their partial isolation from the deep water of the Indo-Pacific and the high temperature in the deep water which eliminates deep and cold water species. Finally, the Red Sea still appears to be undergoing successive stages and many of its marine habitats have not yet reached maturity. Therefore we can expect a continuous migration of species into the Red Sea.