Zh.P. Selifonova

New outbreaks of alien species of shelled ciliates (Tintinnida) in the northeastern Black Sea are reported. Zooplankton samples were collected in the late biological summer and the fall of 2023 in the Black Sea, in the coastal zone of the port of Taman. In the study area, a total of ten species of tintinnids were identified, among which seven were alien species. Outbreaks of the invasive tintinnids Rhizodomus tagatzi and Amphorellopsis acuta were recorded for the first time from the waters of the port of Taman. A well-defined peak of R. tagatzi abundance was recorded in September (518 × 10³ cells/m³) and A. acuta in November (310 × 10³ cells/m³). During these months, these species accounted for >99% of the total abundance of tintinnids, which indicated the formation of their populations. The abundance of R. tagatzi was the highest ever reported for the Black Sea. It is assumed that the intensive shipping traffic and increased cargo turnover characteristic of the Taman coast of the Black Sea and the Kerch Strait contribute to the spread of alien marine shelled ciliates with ship ballast water.

The taxonomic composition and dynamics of the abundance of holoplankton and meroplankton were studied in the estuary of the seaport Temryuk and in Temryuk Bay (background) in autumn 2018. The impact of the trading port and the Kuban River on the state of holoplankton and meroplankton was assessed. The abundance of holo- and meroplankton in the more desalinated and polluted estuary of the port, which borders the Kuban River, was 1.5–3 times lower than in the Temryuk Bay. In the composition of the copepods Oithona davisae and Acartia tonsa, up to half of non-viable individuals were found in the port estuary. In early autumn, the holoplankton was dominated by Oithona davisa and freshwater cyclopoid copepods; in Temryuk Bay, O. davisae prevailed; in meroplankton, larvae of mollusks wee ubiquitous. At the end of autumn, freshwater cyclopoid copepods and larvae of cirripede barnacles Amphibalanus improvisus were abundant in the port estuary; in the bay, along with O. davisae, brackish-water copepods Еurytemora affinnis, larvae of cirripede barnacles A.improvisus were abundant. The basis of the pool of merorplankton was species tolerant to water eutrophication and sulfide contamination of bottom sediments (A. improvisus, Bittium reticulatum and Bivalvia).

Meroplankton taxonomic composition, distribution of abundance, and seasonal population dynamics were studied in the northern Kerch Strait (the seaport Kavkaz area). For the study, zooplankton material was sampled in different seasons in 2017–2019 in the seaport area and outside it. Zooplankton was sampled totally throughout the water column at depths 5 to 8 m with a large Juday net (opening diameter of 37 cm and mesh size of 120 μm). The samples were fixed in 2–4 % neutral formaldehyde and processed in the laboratory by the conventional method. In total, 32 meroplankton taxa were found. As noted, meroplankton density in the polluted area is not inferior to that of the relatively clean area and provides sufficient reproductive potential there. In the seaport area, barnacle and mollusc larvae were widespread; outside, barnacle and bivalve larvae were common. The basis of meroplankton pool was formed by species tolerant to water eutrophication and bottom sediment sulfide contamination – larvae of gastropod Bittium reticulatum, larvae of bivalves Abra segmentum, Cerastoderma glaucum (in summer), and Mytilaster lineatus (in early autumn), and larvae of barnacle Amphibalanus improvisus (in spring). The seasonal dynamics of meroplankton in the study area revealed a summer–autumn increase in abundance which is common for the Black Sea water. The period of the greatest zoobenthos spawning and larvae release into the pelagial lasted April to October. Three density peaks were recorded (April, June, and September), and those were most pronounced in the seaport area in spring and in the open area in early autumn.

Based on the material collected in 2004–2006 and 2009–2010 in the Novorossiysk Sea Port from the ships of the merchant fleet as well as the literature data, the collection and sample handling methods of phyto- and zooplankton from ballast tanks were analyzed. To assess the efficiency of the ballast water treatment systems (BWTS), there should be introduced correct definitions of the number, size and taxa of viable phyto- and zooplankton organisms in the IMO BWM documents. It is recommended to use closed Sorokin-type chambers of different sizes for express analysis (microscopy) of nanoplankton and microplankton on board a ship. To control compliance with the ballast water discharge standard, the mortality ratio of aquatic organisms should be 100% in the decontaminated ballast water. Effective decontamination of ballast water using UV irradiation is not possible unless BWTS is installed on the ballast water flow (draining) from the vessel. It is necessary to develop instructions for carrying out the procedure for obtaning ballast water samples for different types of ships and analyzing them for the facilities under the technical supervision of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. The aim of the study is to analyze the basic principles of collecting and sample handling of phyto- and zooplankton from the ballast tanks to control their compliance with the standard for ballast water discharge into the territorial waters of the Russian Federation.

Phytoplankton, ciliates, holoplankton, meroplankton, ichthyoplankton, ctenophores were studied in the vicinity of the Verbyanaya spit in the Temryuk Gulf during the month of June, which is the most productive month. It has been discovered that formation of net zooplankton structure was largely determined by predator-prey trophic relations. Leanness of ichthyoplankton and mosaic distribution of holoplanktron and meroplankton is evidently explained by the abundance of large carnivorous comb jellies Mnemiopsis leidyi.. Dominant holoplankton complex was represented with marine euryhaline species of copepods – Acartia tonsa (93–98% of the total holoplankton amount). Larvae of Mytilaster lineatus bivalves, comprised a significant part of net zooplankton (43.5%). A total biomass of zooplankton on average reached 537.4 mg/m³, at that, ciliates comprised 38% of this amount. Abundance of zooplankton in the area of research is largely explained by a high level of trophicity of waters coming with the flow of the Kuban River. The obtained results offer an insight into ecological state of marine pelagic communities in protected zones of eastern Azov region and may be useful for subsequent monitoring of the region.

Nutrients contents, dissolved oxygen, numerical density, abundance of phytoplankton, holoplankton and meroplankton were obtained in the harbour of Novorossiysk Bay in the autumn season. At the beginning of the autumn 2015, the optimal water temperature in the upper layer of water and the absence of zooplanktonophagous (ctenophore predators) led to the intensive development of plankton communities. The phytoplankton was represented mainly by diatoms algae and zooplankton – by cladoceran, copepods and larvae invertebrates. However, at the beginning of autumn no meaningful relationship between plant and animal components, contents of nutrients and phytoplankton can be found. The zooplankton contained metazoan organisms with a wide range of nutrition including detritophagous. During the autumn season, the phytoplankton community began to transit at the mixotrophic-heterotrophic phase of the annual cycle of development. Probably in the Novorossiysk harbor, the detritus is the most important component in the biotic cycle of matter and energy.

Aim.To study the state of the marine ecosystem of the recreational‐tourist zone of the Caucasian sector of the Black Sea through the example of a beach near the mouth of the Agoy River.Material and Methods. Phytoplankton, heterotrophic bacterioplankton, infusoria, holoplankton, meroplankton, ichthyoplankton, zoobenthos of loose bottom sediments and hydrochemistry samples of the water and bottom sediments were collected in June 2012 on three sections from the mouth of the Agoy River to the coastal runoff zone (depths 2.5–7.5 m). The identification of species of plankton and of the zoobenthos and of the chemical parameters of water and sediments was carried out according to standard methods. Results.It was revealed that most of the beach area, where psammophilic biocenoses of Lucinella divaricate and Chamelea gallina (Bivalvia) were located, was in satisfactory condition. An increase in the density of Lucinella divaricate, a rare species in the late 1990s, was noted. In the runoff zone, there was observed the appearance of cyanobacteria and the suppression of zoobenthos, expressed through the replacement of mollusc biocenoses by the biocenosis of the polychaete, Capitella capitate, with a biomass two orders of magnitude lower than the average for the area. High numbers of heterotrophic bacterioplankton (4.5 million cell/ml) and infusoria (64 million ind./m3) could indicate bacterial contamination of this zone. The negative impact of waste water on plankton is manifested in a decrease in the population of netted zooplankton, their abnormal development, and the increasing role of microheterotrophs.Conclusions.The results obtained give an image of the state of marine coastal ecosystems of recreational‐tourist and cordoned areas of the Caucasus and can be useful for the further monitoring of this region.

Азовское море относится к внутренним замерзающим морским водоёмам. Зимний период считается одним из важнейших сезонов для понимания закономерностей функционирования и формирования продуктивности экосистемы Азовского моря. Между тем голо- и меропланктон в период формирования ледового покрова в водоёме исследован не полно. За последние годы в Азовское море вселилось несколько чужеродных видов, среди них ― арктические виды многощетинковых червей, которые в своем развитии имеют стадию пелагической личинки. Цель работы ― изучение таксономического состава и обилия зимнего голо- и меропланктона Азовского моря в декабре 2018 г. Материалом для исследования послужили сборы зоопланктона в Таганрогском и Темрюкском заливах Азовского моря в период формирования сезонного ледового покрова. Пробы зоопланктона собирали 3–14 декабря при температуре от 0 до +3 °C на 14 станциях, 9 из которых выполнены в Таганрогском заливе (район порта Ейск) в трёхкратной повторности, а 5 ― в Темрюкском заливе (каждая — однократно). Зоопланктон собирали большой сетью Джеди (диаметр входного отверстия ― 37 см, размер ячеи ― 120 мкм). Тотальные ловы проводили на глубинах от 4 до 8 м. Пробы фиксировали 2–4%-ным раствором нейтрального формальдегида и обрабатывали в лабораторных условиях по стандартной методике. Биомассу вычисляли по таблицам средних масс организмов. Результаты показали, что при аналогичных температурных условиях плотность организмов голо- и меропланктона в Таганрогском заливе была в четыре раза выше, чем в Темрюкском заливе. Зимний подлёдный зоопланктон представлен двумя группами организмов ― нативными эвритермными формами голопланктона и личинками полихет. В составе каляноидных копепод доминировал, как и прежде, эвригалинный понто-каспийский вид Eurytemora affinis (Poppe, 1880). Вместе с тем видовой состав зимнего меропланктона Азовского моря существенно изменился в сравнении с таковым периода до 2014 г. В Таганрогском заливе при температуре воды 0…+1,2 °C зарегистрирована необычайно высокая плотность личинок полихет рода Marenzelleria ― недавнего вселенца в Азовское море (118–119,9 тыс. экз.·м-3). Впервые отмечен пик численности зоопланктона (128,9–136,7 тыс. экз.·м-3) в зимний сезон. Подлёдный зимний максимум численности личинок многощетинкового червя рода Marenzelleria был в 4–6 раз выше показателей обилия меропланктона, ранее отмечаемых в июне, наиболее продуктивном месяце года. Натурализация многощетинковых червей рода Marenzelleria может привести к коренной перестройке азовоморской экосистемы и к увеличению её продуктивности. Необходимы дальнейшие исследования фенологии личиночных стадий этих полихет в водоёме.

This study reports the first occurrence of an alien spionid polychaetes Streblospio gynobranchiata (Rice & Levin, 1998) and Polydora cornuta Bosc, 1802, in the Abkhazian coast and new locality for distribution of the species in the Black Sea.

Впервые проведены исследования гидрохимии воды, грунтов и планктона в гипергалинном озере Солёное и лимане Горький. В июле 2010 г. воды этих водоёмов характеризовались превышением ПДК для тяжёлых металлов, фенолов, БПК, донные отложения — превышением ДК для тяжёлых металлов и нефтепродуктов. В лимане Горький отмечено цветение воды эвгленовой водорослью Eutreptia sp. По показателям численности галофильного рачка Artemia (от 35 до 126 тыс. экз./м3, в среднем 72.7 тыс. экз./м3) и параметрам целебных качеств рапы (166–199 ‰) ультрагалинное озеро Солёное можно отнести к группе водоёмов, имеющих важное региональное значение. Данный водоём следует включить в состав особо охраняемой природной территории «Анапская пересыпь».