ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN THE FORMATION OF QUANTITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF MOLLUSCS OF THE TEMPORARY COMPONENT OF MEIOBENTOS IN THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF THE BLACK SEA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/naturaljournal.8.2024.3Keywords:
molluscs, meiobenthos, ecological factors, northwestern shelf of the Black SeaAbstract
Molluscs whose body sizes allow them to be part of the meiobenthos only for a short period of their life cycle belong to the pseudomeiobenthos (a temporary component of the meiofauna). Despite their small size, young molluscs play a significant role in marine ecosystems, contributing to the development and restoration of bottom biocenoses. Pseudomeiobenthos molluscs are an excellent forage object for young and adult forms of benthic and demersal benthic ichthyofauna. Indicators of the density of settlements and its biomass can be used in monitoring the quality of the marine environment. In terms of population density and biomass, the majority of the pseudomeiobenthos of the northwestern part of the Black Sea is represented mainly by young bivalve molluscs and polychaetes. Gastropods were encountered in our studies with a very low population density. Features of the formation of quantitative characteristics of molluscs, which are considered based on the results of processing 520 quantitative samples collected in the Odesa Sea Region in 1994–2015, are given for the first time. The influence of the main environmental factors (substrate type, depth, oxygen regime) on the formation of quantitative indicators of molluscs of the meiobenthos category was considered. The type of bottom substrate is one of the most important ecological factors for the formation of the diversity, density of settlements and biomass of young molluscs. A high density of molluscs is characteristic of stony substrate, shell with silt and shell with sand in the summer period. Their highest indicators are limited to a depth of 10–15 m. In shallow water, the number is low, which is due to their eating by young ichthyofauna. Analysis of Bivalvia abundance indicators for various conditions showed that it is the lowest for indicators of 104 O2 mg/l. With an increase in dissolved oxygen, the number of mollusks increases.
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