Lessepsian Migration The Influx of Red Sea Biota into the Mediterran
There are few achievements of modern man which can compare to the Suez Canal. In Egypt-the land of the most famous wonders of antiquity-the Suez Canal was built as the first technical wonder ofthe industrial revolution. Ferdinand de Lesseps was a man stra
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Volume 23
Francis Dov Por
Lessepsian Migration The Influx of Red Sea Biota into the Mediterranean by Way of the Suez Canal
With 47 Figures, 10 Plates, and 2 Maps
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heide1berg New York 1978
Professor F. D. POR Department of Zoology The Hebrew University of Jerusalem J erusalemjIsrael
Cover motive based on NASA satellite picture taken from Gemini XI.
ISBN-13:978-3-642-66730-5 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-66728-2
e-ISBN-13:978-3-642-66728-2
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. Por, Francis Dov, 1927-. Lessepsian migration. (Ecological studies; v. 23). Bibliography: p. Inc1udes index. 1. Marine ecology-Egypt-Suez CanaI. 2. Marine ecologyMediterranean Sea. 3. Marine ecology-Red Sea. 4. Animal migration. 1. Title. H. Series. QH 195. E 4 P 67.574.5'2.7724546.
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© by Springer·Verlag Berlin·Heidelberg 1978. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1978 The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. 2131/3130-543210
To the Memory ofmy Father
Preface There are few achievements of modern man which can compare to the Suez Canal. In Egypt-the land of the most famous wonders of antiquity-the Suez Canal was built as the first technical wonder ofthe industrial revolution. Ferdinand de Lesseps was a man straddling two epochs-the romantic utopism of SaintSimon and the modern world of technocracy. The gigantic project was at its start shouldered by the crowds of tens of thousands of forced laborers still available and ended as a show-piece for modern mechanical earth-moving techniques. The canal builders themselves were still polyhistors in the old sense: engineerscum-zoologists; naval officers-cum-geologists; diplomats meddling with chemistry. During the four generations of the existence of the Suez Canal, the fateful professional narrowmindedness became progressively worse. The engineers continued their work in and around the Canal, but they became oblivious and unresponsive to the environmental impact, to the fascinating changes in the biotic scenery which they were producing with their own hands. The Suez Canal started as an international enterprise, a center of preoccupation for the most enlightened minds ofthe mid 19th century. The same was true for the nascent study of marine biology. During the century which has since passed, however, the international commonwealth of scientific research has fallen apart, and the Suez
