Ecological Study of the Fauna associated with Perinereis Cultrifera on the Algerian Coast

To evaluate the impacts of anthropogenic activities on the ecological diversity of fauna associated with annelids in Algeria, seven sites were included in this study: Saint-Cloud beach (Annaba), Stora beach (Skikda), Figuier beach (Boumerdes), Pointe-Pescade (Algiers), Stidia beach (Mostaganem), Bomo beach (Oran), and El-Mordjène beach (El-Kala), which served as the reference site. Water samples, polychaetes, and associated fauna were collected monthly from February 2016 to January 2017. The findings show that the collected specimens (N = 40,411) belong to 25 taxa, primarily including polychaete annelids, arthropods, molluscs, Plathelminthes, Sipuncula, and echinoderms. In conclusion, the studied sites are similar in faunal composition but different in the distribution of taxa and ecological conditions, which are influenced by the physico-chemical characteristics of the water.