Autolytinae and Exogoninae (Polychaeta: Syllidae) from northern Cyprus (eastern Mediterranean Sea) with a checklist of species reported from the Levant Sea

Faunistic analysis of a total of 77 benthic samples collected in different biotopes and depths from northern Cyprus in 1997 and 1998 yielded 36 species and one subspecies of syllid polychaetes belonging to Autolytinae and Exogoninae, of which three species (Exogone (Parexogone) wolfi San Martín, 1991, Sphaerosyllis longipapillata Hartmann-Schröder, 1979 and Sphaerosyllis sp. 2) are new to the Mediterranean, seven species to the eastern Mediterranean, 23 species to the Levantine Sea and 32 species to the Cypriot coast. The morphological, biometrical and distributional features of each species as well as a checklist of species of Autolytinae and Exogoninae reported from the Levant coasts are provided.