Single station-restricted plankton distribution and Levant occurrence of a copepod, Acartia<i> (Hypoacartia</i>) adriatica with change in P5 as compared to Adriatic and Aegean environments

Date

2025-01-01

Author

Duman, Guler Sila
MUTLU, ERHAN
TERBIYIK KURT, TUBA
Karaca, Dogukan
Uysal, Zahit

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The Mediterranean is well-known for its rich biodiversity among the semi-enclosed seas which was affected from atmospheric-sea interactions coupled with globally ocean oscillations and El Nino as well as from the basin-wise decadal Bimodal Oscillating System (BiOS) and the Atlantic rim current. Besides invasion of non-indigenous species (NIS) in Levant Sea, to the Turkish coastal water recent introduction of Mediterranean indigenous species (IS) which are common in Western Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea is noteworthy to mention. During a study on mesozooplankton distribution along the Turkish Mediterranean coastal waters in summer 2019, one calanoid copepod species, Acartia (Hypoacartia) cf. adriatica which is widely distributed in Italian coasts followed by the Aegean Sea was identified for the first time for the Levant Sea and found numerous at one of 67 sampling stations in the study area. However, leg P5 of both female and male specimens was found to have slight differences as compared to the original drawings of A. (H.) adriatica found in Adriatic and Aegean populations. Furthermore, abundances of five phytoplankton species (two of them common in the Adriatic Sea) were estimated to be 50 to 100 fold higher at this particular station compared to the rest of the stations. Physicochemical (relatively lower salinity and unusually high nutrient levels during the summer period in Levantine basin) and biological properties of this single station fell apart from the neighboring stations. Previously, 17 gelatinous species were recorded in the Turkish seas in 2019-2020 when A. (H) cf. adriatica was recorded in the Levant basin and slight differences in P5 of female and male specimens compared to Adriatic and Aegean specimens were observed for the first time. If A. (H.) cf. adriatica from the Levant basin is a separate species from that of the Adriatic Sea, the migration could not be proposed (at least from W Mediterranean), or it should be considered as a possible migration from the Aegean Sea population, which is closer to the Levant basin. Furthermore, the present study suggests that between-sea-to-sea introduction of NIS or IS could not be ignored for their effects on already established ecosystems specific to the Mediterranean.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115706

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Graduate School of Marine Sciences, Article