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COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF POLYCHAETES INHABITING SHALLOW-WATERS IN THE CAPE MIDIA – CAPE TUZLA AREA (ROMANIAN COAST, BLACK SEA)


VICTOR SURUGIU

Issue:

SCSB, Volume X

Section:

Ecology, Limnology

Abstract:

On the Romanian coast of the Black Sea, depths of less than 20-22 m are usually dominated by sandy sediments and cover an area of approximately 700 km2 (Petran, 1997). To the north of ConstanĂŸa the sublittoral sands are fine (132-350 μm median grain size), siliceous, of mineral origin, and form a continuous belt of several kilometres breadth from Sulina to Mamaia (Gomoiu, 1969). In the proximity of the mouths of the Danube, the sandy seabed descends only to 10 m depth, due to the intense sedimentation. To the south of ConstanĂŸa the sandy seabeds are discontinuous, forming isolated patches among rocky substrata. At depths less than 4 m the sands are medium-grained (203-433 μm median grain-size), organogenous and calcareous (Gomoiu, 1963, 1969). As the depth increases, the medium-grained sands are gradually replaced by fine, mineral, quartz-micacean sands and these, in turn, are replaced by silts (BĂŁcescu et al., 1971).

The biocoenosis of fine sands is of great ecological and economical importance, since it comprises more than 100 benthic taxa and serves as a nursery ground for many fish of commercial importance (BĂŁcescu et al., 1957, 1965a, 1965b, 1971).

Polychaetes inhabiting sandy substrata of the Romanian Black Sea coast have been studied by BĂŁcescu et al. (1957, 1965a, 1965b, 1967), Dumitrescu (1963), ÞigĂŁnuÂș (1986, 1988, 1990, 1992) and Surugiu (2003).

Due to the influence of Danube run-off and to anthropogenic impact, the biocoenosis of fine sands is influenced by large changes in salinity and is subjected to severe eutrophication and pollution. As a result the biodiversity of these fine sands have declined drastically in the last 35 years and the populations of some opportunistic species, particularly within the Polychaeta, have increased significantly (ÞigĂŁnuÂș, 1986, 1997; Petran, 1997).

The aim of the present study is to assess the polychaete diversity from the sandy substrata of the Romanian Black Sea coast and to provide information regarding the distribution patterns of the polychaetes in this habitat using quantitative data.

Keywords:

Polychaeta, spatial distribution, fine sand biocoenosis, Romanian coast, Black Sea.

Code [ID]:

SCSB200510V10S04A0010 [0002554]


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