Revkov N.K., Timofeev V.A., Revkova T.N. 2021. Biocoenotic and habitat ordination of mud shrimp Upogebia pusilla Petagna, 1792 (Crustacea: Decapoda) settlements on the northern part of the Black Sea shelf (Crimean coast) // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.30. No.4: 531–539 [in English].
A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Nakhimov ave., 2, Sevastopol, 299011, Russia. E-mail: nrevkov@yandex.ru
doi: 10.15298/arthsel.30.4.08
ABSTRACT. The object of the study was the Black Sea Decapoda Upogebia pusilla Petagna, 1792 (“mud shrimp”, “sea mole”, upogebia), having a protective status in a number of the Black Sea countries. The work was based on expeditions materials from the database of the Benthos Ecology Department of the IBSS, collected in 1957–2013. The aim of this work was to assess the spatial distribution, biocoenotic and habitat ordination of U. pusilla Petagna, 1792 on the Black Sea shelf of Crimea. It was found in the depth range of 1–36 m. The depth profile for the quantitative representation of U. pusilla habitats had two peaks: the first one was in relatively shallow and closed to strong wave impact areas as bay type in the depth range up to 6 m, the second one was in offshore open waters relatively remote to the coast at depths 20–30 m. The maximum values of the abundance and biomass of U. pusilla off the coast of Crimea do not exceed, respectively, 58 ind./m2 and 53 g/m2. Mud shrimp formed settlements at the Crimean coast in such five biocoenotic complexes as Heteromastus filiformis + Bittium reticulatum (I); Upogebia pusilla + Abra segmentum + Loripes orbiculatus (II); Mytilaster lineatus + Pisidia longimana (III); Pitar rudis + Chamelea gallina + Upogebia pusilla (IV) and Mytilus galloprovincialis (V). According to the EUNIS habitat classification the description of U. pusilla habitats on the Crimean Black Sea shelf was given.
KEY WORDS: Upogebia pusilla, abundance, biomass, spatial distribution, biocoenotic complexes, EUNIS habitat classification, Black Sea, Crimea.