Diversity of Platyhelminthes, Xenacoelomorpha, Nematoda, Acanthocephala, Brachiopoda, Kinorhyncha, Nemertea, Chaetognatha, Tardigrada, Gastrotricha, Rotifera, Phoronida, Echinodermata, and Chordata (Tunicata, Cephalochordata, and Hemichordata) from the coasts of Turkiye

The current biodiversity of 14 phyla, namely Platyhelminthes, Xenacoelomorpha, Nematoda, Acanthocephala, Brachiopoda, Kinorhyncha, Nemertea, Chaetognatha, Tardigrada, Gastrotricha, Rotifera, Phoronida, Echinodermata, and Chordata (invertebrates only, including the subphyla Tunicata, Cephalochordata, and Hemichordata) from the coasts of T & uuml;rkiye is revisited. It was found that a total number of 695 species occur along all the coastlines of T & uuml;rkiye, with the Black Sea being represented by 297 species, the Sea of Marmara by 305 species, the Aegean Sea by 308 species, and the Levantine Sea by 204 species. The most species-rich phyla in these regions were Platyhelminthes (249 species), Nematoda (131), Echinodermata (98), and Chordata (85). A total of 26 alien species have been reported from the regions to date, of which one species belongs to Chaetognatha, 8 species to Echinodermata, and 17 species to Tunicata. The highest number of alien species (17) was encountered in the Levantine Sea and the lowest (2) was in the Black Sea.