MACROBENTHIC NEMATODES INHABITING MUSSEL BEDS: SEASONAL VARIABILITY IN THE POPULATION STRUCTURE OF ENOPLUS QUADRIDENTATUS BERLIN, 1853 AROUND SINOP PENINSULA (SOUTHERN BLACK SEA)

Abstract

Spatio-temporal distribution and population structure of Enoplus quadridentatus Berlin, 1853 associated with mussel beds were investigated seasonally (October 2013, January 2014, May 2014 and July 2014) along the coasts of Sinop Peninsula, the northernmost point of Turkey located at the Black Sea. A 20x20 cm quadrat was used by scuba divers to collect samples at five stations, of which four of them were located on rocky sub- strata and one on a concrete pier pile. Nematode densities ranged between 0 – 996 ind.m^-2 and found high in October and May. A total of 1100 individuals and 9 species belonging to 8 families were recruited. E. quadridentatus Berlin, 1853 was the dominant species in most of the nematode assemblages inhabiting mussel beds and had a contribution of 74% to the total fauna. The density of the species varied among the seasons with peaks in May and October, consistent with the general nematode densities. Population composition revealed seasonal changes. In general, females were dominant in the population and ovigerous females were recorded only in January and May. Juveniles were found during all seasons, but formed dense populations in July and May. It seems that the reproduction of the species is continuous throughout the year.

Keywords

• Black Sea,Enoplus quadridentatus,Freeliving marine nematodes,Population dynamics,Mussel beds

References

1. Allgen, C. (1941). Über einige freilebende Nematoden aus Bandırma an der Nordküste Kleinasiens (Marmarameer, Türkei). Zoologischer Anzeiger, 135, 281-294.
2. Clarke, K.R., Warwick, R.M. 2001. Change in Marine Communities: An Approach to Statistical Analysis and Interpretation, 2nd edition. PRIMER-E, Plymouth.
3. Çınar, M. E., Katağan, T., Öztürk, B., Egemen, Ö., Ergen, Z., Kocataş, A., Önen, M., Kırkım, F., Bakır, K., Kurt, G., Dağlı, E., Kaymakçı, A., Açık, Ş., Doğan, A., & Özcan, T. (2006). Temporal changes of soft-bottom zoobenthic communities in and around Alsancak Harbor (Izmir Bay, Aegean Sea), with special attention to the autecology of exotic species. Marine Ecology, 27(3), 229-246.
4. Çinar, M.E. & Gönlügür-Demirci, G. (2005). Polychaete assemblages on shallow-water benthic habitats along the Sinop Peninsula (Black Sea, Turkey). Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 46, 253-263.
5. Çınar, M.E., Katağan, T., Koçak, F., Öztürk, B., Ergen, Z., Kocataş, A., Önen, M., Kırkım, F., Bakır, K., Kurt, G., Dağlı, E., Açık, Ş., Doğan, A., & Özcan, T. (2008). Faunal assemblages of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis in and around Alsancak Harbour (Izmir Bay, Eastern Mediterranean) with special emphasis on alien species. Journal of Marine Systems, 71, 1-17.
6. Filipjev, I.N. (1918). Freeliving marine nematodes of the Sevastopol area, Issue I, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrograd; 1-350, (Translated 1968, I.P.S.T., Jerusalem).
7. Gerlach, S.A. & Riemann, F. (1974). The Bremerhaven checklist of aquatic nematodes. A catalogue of Nematoda Adenophorea, excluding Dorylaimida. Part 2. Veroeff. Inst. Meeresforsch. Bremerhaven, Suppl. 4, No.2, 405-734.
8. Heip, C., Vincx, M., Smol, N. & Vranken, G. (1982). The systematics and ecology of free-living marine nematodes. Helminthological Abstracts, 51, 1-31.

9. Kautsky, N. & Wallentinus, I. (1980). Nutrient release from a Baltic Mytilus-red algal community and its role in benthic and pelagic productivity. Ophelia, 1, 17-30.
10. Kisseleva, M.I. & Slavina, O.J. (1964). Bottom biocoenoses off the West shore of the Krim. Characteristic of the area Tarchankut – Sevastopol. Trudy Sevastopol Biological Station, 15, 152-188.
11. Lee, H.J., Rho, H.S. & Jung, J. (2015). New Record of Three Nematode Species of Genus Enoplus (Nematoda: Enoplidae) from Korea. Korean Journal of Environmental Biology, 33(2), 160-169.
12. Moens, T. & Vincx, M. (2000). Temperature and salinity constraints on the life cycle of two brackish-water nematodes species. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 243, 115-135.
13. Muresan, M. (2012). Assessment of free-living marine nematodes community from the NW Romanian Black Sea shelf. Geo-Eco Marina, 18, 133-145.
14. Muresan, M. (2014). Diversity and distribution of free-living nematodes within periazoic level on the Romanian shelf of the Black Sea. Geo-Eco-Marina 2014; No.20, 19-28.
15. Norkko, A., Hewitt, J.E., Thrush, S.F., & Funnell, G.A. (2001). Benthic pelagic coupling and suspension-feeding bivalves: linking site-specific sediment flux and biodeposition to benthic community structure. Limnology and Oceanography, 46, 2067–2072.
16. Paladian, G. (1965). Some Chromadoridae (free Nematoda) from the rocky facies of the Black Sea (Romanian shore). Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa”, 35, 19-24.
17. Platt, H.M. & Warwick, R.M. (1983). Free-living marine nematodes. Pt.1. British Enoplids. Pictorial key to world genera and notes for the identification of British species. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 307 pp.
18. Ragnarsson, S.A. & Raffaelli, D. (1999). Effects of the mussel Mytilus edulis L. on the invertebrate fauna of sediments. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 241, 31-43.
19. Sergeeva, N.G. (1973). Fauna and some questions of ecology of free-living nematodes of the Black Sea. PhD thesis, Sevastopol.
20. Sergeeva, N.G. (1974). Qualitative composition and quantitative distribution of free-living nematodes near the southern coast of Crimea /Biology Morya, Kiev, Iss.32, P.: 22-42 (In Russian).
21. Sergeeva, N.G. (1985a). The Formation of meiobenthic communities under experimental conditions.Communication 1 / Ecologiya Morya. №21. – P. 78–84. (In Russian).
22. Sergeeva N.G. (1985b) The Formation of meiobenthic communities under experimental conditions.Communication 1 / Ecologiya Morya., №21. – P. 84–89. (In Russian).
23. Skoolmun, P., Gerlach, S.A. (1971). Jahreszeitliche £uktuationen der nematodenfauna in Gezeitenbereich des Weser-Astuars. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts fur Meeresforschung in Bremerhaven, 13, 119-138.
24. Smol, N., Heip, C. & Govaert, G. (1981). The life cycle of Oncholaimus oxyuri (Nematoda) in its habitat. Annales de la Socie.te. Royal Zoologique de Belgique, 110, 87-103. Tietjen, J.H. & Lee, J.J. (1972). Life cycles of marine nematodes. Influence of temperature and salinity on the development of Monhystera denticulata Timm. Oecologia, 10, 167-176.
25. Topaloglu, B. & Kihara, K. (1993). Community of Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819 in the Bosphorus Strait. Journal of Tokyo University of Fisheries 1993; 80, 113–120.
26. Ürkmez, D. (2015). Dynamics of the meiobenthic nematode fauna of Sinop Bay and the taxonomy and ecology of Chromadoridae. PhD thesis, Sinop University.
27. Venekey, V., Fonseca-Genovois, V.G. & Santos, P.J.P. (2011). Influence of the tidal and rainfall cycles on the population structure and density of Mesacanthion hirsutum Gerlach (Nematoda, Thoracostomopsidae) on a tropical sandy beach (Tamandaré Bay, Pernambuco, Brazil). Brazilian Journal of Oceanography, 59, 3, 253-258.
28. Zaitsev, Y. P. & Alexandrov, B.G. (1998). Black Sea Biological Diversity, Ukraine; Ukranian National Report, United Nation Publication: New York, 351 pp.