Protistology 10 (3) 91–96 (2016) |
Tintinnid ciliates (Spirotrichea, Choreotrichia, Tintinnida) of the Black Sea: recent invasions |
Kovalevsky Institute of Marine Biological Research of Russian Academy of Sciences, Sevastopol, 299011, Russia | Submitted August 29, 2016 | Accepted September 24, 2016 | Summary Among 23 species of tintinnid ciliates known for the Black Sea, nine nonindigenous species (Eutintinnus lususundae, E. tubulosus, E. apertus, Eutintinnus sp., Salpingella decurtata, Tintinnopsis tocantinensis, Rhizodomus tagatzi, Amphorellopsis acuta and Nolaclusilis sp.) were registered in the Sevastopol Bay and the adjacent coastal regions of the Crimea during 1997-2014. Some of those aliens (e.g., A. acuta and E. tubulosa) were often dominating in the plankton community and possibly replacing the indigenous species, such as Codonella lagenula, Helicostomella subulata, T. compressa, T. lobiancoi, T. rossolimi and Metacylis jorgensenii. We infer that the observed changes in the ciliate species composition were likely related to the invasion of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi into the Black Sea in the 1980s, which had caused significant alterations in the plankton community.
Key words: tintinnid ciliates, Black Sea, invasive species
Address for correspondence: Igor Dovgal. Kovalevsky Institute of Marine Biological Research of Russian Academy of Sciences, 2, Nakhimov ave., Sevastopol, 299011, Russia; e-mail: dovgal-1954@mail.ru |
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