By Olivier Ballout Kuwait , known for its scorching summer temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, harbors an extraordinary thermotolerant fauna within its vast deserts. However, its eastern coastline, where land meets sea, features diverse ecosystems teeming with life. Exploring Kuwait’s coastal and marine environments reveals an array of phenomenal creatures thriving under extreme conditions.
Kuwait’s coastline, a key part of the Arabian Gulf, stretches 500 km, characterized by intense salinity (4.5 percent to 5.5 percent) and high temperatures (27°C compared to the global average of 21.
1°C in 2023). These conditions create a nutrient-rich habitat attracting numerous endemic species. Conservationist Abdulaziz Al-Saleh highlighted Kuwait’s “unique marine biodiversity, enhanced by freshwater inflows from Iraq’s Tigris, Euphrates and Karun rivers, creating muddy shores favorable to species like the endangered mudskipper fish”.
The coastline features rocky and sandy shores and coral reefs, bustling with marine life. In fact, coral reefs, foundational to marine ecosystems, host a variety of species especially, small fish, anemones, sponges and nudibranchs, which are predators to zooxanthellae, a microalga contained inside these tree-like colonies of polyp. Kuwait boasts over 20 coral reef sites, notably around islands like Kubbar, Umm Al-Maradim and Qaruh, known for its underwater beauty, sheltering rare species such as rays, boxfish and wrasses.
To preserve the.
