The Ichthyoplankton State in the Sevastopol Bay Mouth (Black Sea)

Abstract

Data on abundance dynamics, species diversity, and trophic relationships of ichthyoplankton in the Sevastopol Bay during 2002-2014 are presented. In the period of 2009-2014 the tendency of an increase of indexes of species diversity and species richness were observed in comparison with the last decade of XX century. Increased copepod abundance, including invasive Oithona davisae, is assumed to be the reason for increased survival rate of larvae and rising number of commercial fish species, which migrate to this area for spawning and growing

Keywords

• Black Sea
• ichthyoplankton
• abundance
• species diversity
• fish larvae feeding
• microzooplankton