Meiobenthos of Sevastopol Bay (Black Sea): Current State and Long-Term Changes

E. V. Guseva, S. V. Alyomov*

A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Sevastopol, Russia

* e-mail: alyomov_sv@ibss-ras.ru

Abstract

The paper presents data (density, taxonomic composition) on the meiobenthos population of Sevastopol Bay (the Black Sea) in 2018 as compared with the results of previous studies. The data were obtained using standard hydrobiological methods. Eleven large taxa were identified as part of the bay's multicellular meiobenthos: Nematoda, Harpacticoida, Ostracoda, Kinorhyncha, Halacaridae categorized as eumeobenthos, and small specimens of Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, Turbellaria, Nemertea, Amphipoda, Cumacea categorized as pseudomeiobenthos. Nematodes dominated, averaging from 37.7 to 88.5 % of the total number of meiobenthos. The meiobenthos density varied from 8 to 248 ind./10 cm2 while the meiobenthos distribution across the bay was uneven. Artilleriyskaya Bay and an area in the centre of Sevastopol Bay were marked by consistently low values of the meiobenthos density. At other sites, meiobenthos characteristics varied widely. The paper considers in greater detail Yuzhnaya Bay and the top of Sevastopol Bay, where the largest changes in the studied parameters have occurred over the past 25 years. In 2018, the highest indices of taxonomic diversity and the density of meiobenthos organisms were noted here. Uneven distribution of meiobenthos in very extended Sevastopol Bay is associated both with different particle size distribution of bottom sediments and with the influence of numerous various sources of pollution. This unevenness persists for a long time with a significant difference among the values of various years; changes in different parts of the bay occur rather synchronously.

Keywords

meiobenthos, long-term changes, Sevastopol Bay, Black Sea.

Acknowledgments

The work was performed under state assignment of IBSS on topic “Molismological and biogeochemical foundations of the marine ecosystems homeostasis” (no. 121031500515-8) and RFBR grant “Analysis of the current state of the structural and functional organization of bottom biocenoses of the Sevastopol region and their stability under the influence of variability of natural and anthropogenic factors” (no. 18-44-920028 p_a).

For citation

Guseva, E.V. and Alyomov, S.V., 2022. Meiobenthos of Sevastopol Bay (Black Sea): Current State and Long-Term Changes. Ecological Safety of Coastal and Shelf Zones of Sea, (1), pp. 104–112. doi:10.22449/2413-5577-2022-1-104-112

DOI

10.22449/2413-5577-2022-1-104-112

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