Seasonal Size Composition of Gelatinous Macrozooplankton in the Sinop Peninsula of Black Sea

Authors : Zekiye Birinci Özdemir, Eylem Aydemir-çil, Pınar Gürbüzer

Pages : 50-54

Doi:10.33714/masteb.633867

View : 27 | Download : 12

Publication Date : 2019-12-31

Article Type : Research

Abstract :In this study, size compositions of  Aurelia   aurita   (Linnaeus, 1758),   Pleurobrachia pileus   (O. F. Müller, 1776) and   Mnemiopsis leidyi   A. Agassiz, 1865 were presented seasonally between March 2015 and February 2016 at the Sinop Peninsula of Black Sea. Sampling was carried out monthly at the 6 stations   by plankton net ( 50 cm diameter mouth opening, 500   m m mesh size for horizontal tows, 210   m m mesh size for vertical tows) .   Small sized individuals of   A. aurita ,   M. leidyi   and   P. pileus   were found dominant in summer. Bigger size individuals were observed for   A. aurita   in spring,   M. leidyi   in winter, and   P. pileus   in autumn.   A. aurita   ˂ 4 cm was determined as 57%,   M. leidyi   ˂ 2 cm was 58% and   P. pileus   ˂   0.6 was determined as 67%. Maximum and minimum lengths were measured 28 cm and 0.5 cm for   A. aurita , 2 cm and 0.2 cm for   P. pileus , 9 cm and 0.2 cm for   M. leidyi,   respectively. The size distribution of   A. aurita, M. leidyi   and   P. pileus   showed significantly different (ANOVA, p ˂ 0.05) between seasons.
Keywords : Black Sea, Aurelia aurita, Mnemiopsis leidyi, Pleurobrachia pileus, Size composition