الفهرس 
acknowledgmentOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
order Isopoda is one of the iInportant orders of the subclass
Malacostraca. It comprises about 2600 species excluding
Oniscoidea (terrestrial isopods) and Epicaridea (parasitic isopods)
(Waterman and Chace, 1960). There are over 2000 species of
Oniscoidea (Gordon, 1966). Nearly 28 isopod species have been
recordedfrom the Mediterranean (Campbell, 1982).
The majority of isopod species are marine living on the sea
bottomor are essential free living members of fouling communities
on the hard substrata from the littoral zone to the deep water
regions. Although there are a few species in the plankton, they are
principally bottom-living or parasitic forms. They are parasites on
othercrustaceans or fishes.
Isopoda as the other crustacean species play an iInportant
rolein the economy of the sea. They are iInportant food items for
various demersal commercial fishes and other benthic aniInals
(Ara, 1937; FAO, 1973; Wassef, 1973; Allam, 1979; 1990; El-
Emary,1987).
On the other hand, marine isopods feed on plants, detritus
andother marine animals such as molluscs, annelids, crustaceans
and fishes (Stlmposon, 1857; Boorie, 1921; Hartnoll, 1960.