7 2018/1 Biological Bulletin

Сurrent state of the molluskan fauna in the north 2018/1 part of the and the Utlyuk estuary

Biological Bulletin of Bogdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University Accepted after revision Received 2018/05 №1/2018 2018/06 pp. 7-11 © Bogdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University UDC 598.2;504.05/.06

Сurrent State of the Mollusks Fauna in the North Part of the Sea of Azov and the Utlyuk Estuary

Igor Khaliman Bogdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University, Hetmanska Str., 20, 72300, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine

Corresponding author: [email protected] Bogdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University, Hetmanska str., 20, 72300, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhian region, Ukraine

Abstract/ Eng. The fauna and some ecological features of the mollusks of the North part of the Sea of Azov and Utyuk Lyman were investigated. Also there are some records about regular quantity and biocenosis structure of this water area. It is obvious that the most eurybiontic species penetrate into the Sea of Azov from the Black Sea. It proves that the ―pontisation‖ process is still continuing. Apparently over the years the number of newly-immigrated species of mollusks could increase the local biodiversity. Key words: Ukraine, the Sea of Azov, Utlyuk estuary, mollusks fauna, ecological factors.

The Sea of Azov is the important area of consumers, which accumulated in the the entirely Azov-Black Sea Basin, where sea by mainland runoff and by rivers the process of the species penetration flows. Additionally, mollusks play a key from the Black Sea is continuing and role in the substances circulation and changes the biodiversity as well as energy transformation, maintaining the relations within the ecosystem. Fauna balance of the Sea of Azov ecosystems. monitoring of the northwestern part of the flitrating organisms, mollusks of the Sea of Azov reveals certain ecological Bivalvia class accumulate radionuclides preferring in some mollusks species and salt of heavy metals in their body which inhabit certain areas and are and serve as natural indicators of the usually represented in relatively low water pollution. Some bivalves are the density of populations. intermediate hosts of trematods, which The key role of mollusks in the Sea of are causing human, domestic and wildlife Azov benthos community is obvious diseases. Moreover, mollusks form a which causes the scientists’ interest to large group of benthic invertebrate the malacofauna of the basin. , which are the main forage base Mollusks is a common group of for a big variety of industrial fishes: invertebrates in all communities haarder, gloss flounder, gobies, herring inhabiting on- and in-bottom biotopes of and others. Mollusks play an important the Sea of Azov and adjacent lymans role as the main components in the (Utlyuk and Molochnyi). They play a role overgrowing the submarine parts of as large aquatic flora and organic detritus

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ships, various structures and water coast of the Sea of Azov between the transport systems. Stepanivka village to the end of the The common factors of growth, Biriuchi island bay bar (Yakimivsky development, reproduction and district, Zaporozhzhia region) and on the distribution of the molluscs depend on coast of Utlyuk Lyman. Clams were the conditions they live in. Changes in collected from fresh coastal emissions, the environmental conditions lead to the as well as in the sea from clay plateaus changes in age number of the mollusk at a distance of 500-1500 meters from populations and to their placement in the coast at a depth of 0.5-4.5 meters. biotopes and other. Traditional methods of conchological Researching reservoirs conditions, the analysis were used for mollusk species main task is to study the physical and identification with taking into account all chemical phenomena of the biological available updating in the systematics of processes and to clarify industrial issues. certain groups (Anistratenko et al., 2011). Hydrological and hydrochemical researches are also take an important Results and discussion place, because studying the chemical and physical phenomena we better Despite the large number of the works understand the processes occurring in about the gastropod fauna in the Azov different reservoirs. and Black seas, drills of the marine Environmental factors directly or reservoirs are actively studied. indirectly affect the migration of Gastropods determine the bioavailability organisms. The most part of researchers of reservoirs and their ability to self- think that external factors are the main in purify, as they act as environmental the migration. They caused photokinesis indicators of the habitat. Most of the (phototaxis) and thermotaxis in the mollusks, mostly drills, are actively used organisms. Hydrological regime in food for fish, birds and mammals. It determines the degree of favorable or determines the close attention to the unfavorable conditions of the reservoir fauna of mollusks in the reservoirs of for its inhabitants. In the shallow and Ukraine [3]. closed Sea of Azov the meteorological The northern coast of the Sea of Azov is conditions of the year determine the characterized by the presence of a hydrological regime of the sea. They are number of bay bars. It is narrow sand- especially marked in the pseudolittoral shell bands which stand out into the open and upper sublittoral areas. sea at considerable distances (Fedotova The aim of the present investigation is: i) sand bar- up to 50 km.). to overview a composition of bottom In the intervals between the sand bars, biocenoses in the outlined region; ii) to the coast is blurring and it forms broadly discover the general peculiarities of the open bays. The material of these bars is distribution of different taxa of mollusks quartz sand with a significant impurity of and iii) to re-assess the prospects for cardium with the sand on the edge of the benthic biocenoses in the basin in regard bars. Soils are muddy or sandy-muddy to the alien species, that introduce from with a bite shell almost to the very edge the Black Sea. water. The vegetation cover hides almost the entire surface of the soil [7]. Materials and methods For such areas the presence of two groups of organisms is specific: Qualitative and quantitative samples of forms which live on plants; molluscs collected in 2006-2017. As well forms which live on the soil surface or as the publications available also are buried in it. used for analysis. Material was collected Specific mollusks of the first group are: in 21 stations located in the northwestern Rissoa venusta, Rissoa euxinica,

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Mytilaster lineatus, Theodoxus pallasi, Utlyuk Lyman is really special in Hydrobia ventrosa, Bittium reticulatum. hydrological and biological Specific mollusks of the second group characteristics. It is deep enough (in are: Cardium edule lamarki, Abra ovata, some places up to 13 meters), with a Retusa truncatella [1, 2]. great diversity of benthic vegetation. It Water temperature regime of the Utlyuk has a high biomass and density of Lyman significantly differs from the open mollusks settlements [4, 8]. sea and Molochnyi Lyman regime. The Venerida order is the most Meteorological conditions here are numerous groups of the Bivalvia class on strongly influenced by air temperature the studied area. It includes 9 families decreasing and increasing, wind direction and 17 species that live in areas of the and its speed, the amount of sea and firths with different salinity. In precipitation, and so on. Water masses in addition to the species previously the shallow waters warmed better than mentioned, fresh leaves Solen vagina the open sea waters in the summer. In Linnaeus, 1758 (gen. Solenidae) are the winter the sea along the coast often found. freezes. The temperature conditions on The hells Ostrea lamellosa Brocchi, the Sea of Azov littoral are exceptionally 1814, the Ostreidae Rafinesque family, unstable. The temperature difference of 1815, were discovered from the shore opposite coasts in the area of the emissions in the area of the Biriuchiy Fedotova bay bar reaches 8ºС on the Island. Numerous findings from the same northern coast of the Sea of Azov. area of the shells Flexopecten ponticus The difference in water temperature and (Bucquoy, Dautzenberg and Dollfus, salinity on the opposite shores is quite 1889), gen. Pectinidae Rafinesque. significant especially in the summer, 1815, an order of Pectinidae, can testify when the shallow waters of the southern the presence of these two species in the coast warm up to 20-30°C, while in the studied area of the Sea of Azov. west and north the water temperature Numerous populations of the species does not rise above 25 ° C. The water Licinella divaricata (Linne, 1758) and temperature influences the metabolic Loripes licunalis (Lamarck, 1818), gen. processes of the mollusks and the level Lucinidae Fleming, 1828, were found on of their activity and distribution in the the Utlyuk Lyman and Sea of Azov area reservoir. where they are uniting. These areas are In Autumn, while air temperature is characterized by high salinity. lowering, the water temperature is Compared to the Bivalvia class, the decreasing unevenly. It is faster from the class is more numerous. In northwestern part of the Utlyuk Lyman the area of the bay bar Biriuchyi, we and at the Arabatskaya Arrow. Here, discovered the shells of albida strong and cold north-eastern and (Gmelin, 1791) gen. eastern winds are prevailing. They drive (Rafinesque, 1815). The only single together in this area the cold superficial record of these shells was reported by A. water from the whole water area of the Ostorumov in 1893. Here we found the Sea of Azov. fresh shells of Steromphala divaricata By the end of autumn, at temperatures (Linneaus, 1758) of the same family. up to 5С, most gastropods burrow in the On the west of Kirillovka village we bottom sediments at different depths (up collected a lot of fresh shells Cerithium to 15 cm.). Bivalves migrate to the vulgatum (Bruguire, 1789), the family deeper parts of the sea and firth. Clams Cerithium (Bruguire, 1789). The number rarely freeze in the ice. Sometimes it of species of Cerithiiformes is 3, happens when all the water freezes. The contained C. pussilum (Jeffreys, 1856) thickness of the ice can reach 35-70 cm and B. reticulatum (Da Costa, 1778). for 20-70 days.

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The family Littoridinidae is represented exist a set of water-currents mixing the by 3 species of the genus Thalassobia water of different salinity and Bourguignat in Mabilli, 1877: Th. temperature of the entirely liman. moitessier (Bourguignat, 1876); Th. The special hydrological regime of the contagne (Bourguignat in Contagne, Sea of Azov, reduced salinity, sharp 1881). seasonal temperature fluctuations, long The order of Neritopsiformes is winter periods and shallow water – represented by the small number of everything determines a certain forms species in the studied part of the Sea of selection from the richer Black Sea Azov. There only three species from the fauna, which represents the already family Neritidae Rafinesque, 1815 are selected fauna of the Mediterranean Sea. known: Th. danasteri (Lindholm, 1908); Some Mediterranean forms find Th. fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1758); Th. exceptional conditions for their pallasi Lindholm, 1924. development in the Sea of Azov and form Subclasses of Sinistrobranchia, large clusters [2, 4, 5, 8]. Opistobranchia and Pulmonata are The perspective of the further research is represented in the Sea of Azov by the 4, monitoring the transformation of the 3, and 1 species [1, 2, 3, 4, 6]. ecological system of the Sea of Azov Thus, the penetration into the Sea of according with certain changes in the Azov from the Black Sea of the most fauna of molluscs. eurybiontic species is obvious. This suggests that the process of "pontisation" Conclusions of the Sea of Azov is continuing. The features of the hydrological regime The process of penetration of the most of the Sea of Azov and the surrounding eurybiontic species from the Black sea is lymans are mainly determined by a small continuing and changes the biodiversity inflow of the fresh water and by shallow as well as relations within the ecosystem. water of the basin. It is obvious that the process of High salinity of the water is observed in "pontisation" of the Sea of Azov is still the area between the Biriuchyi peninsula continuing. and part of the Arabatskaya Arrow, Our studies allow us to claim that the where the salt waters of Sivash are existence of these species in the north- flowing in. The distribution dissimilarity of western part of the Sea of Azov and in salinity is noted mainly in the spring after the Utlyuk Lyman is evident. the ice melting. The process of the penetration of both The hydrologic regime of the Utlyuk species from the Mediterranean and the Lymanis formed under the influence of Black Sea in the Sea of Azov is still the fresh water of the Big and the Small continuing. Apparently over the years the Utlyuk River, mainland runoff and the number of newly-immigrated species of system of currents caused by winds mollusks could increase the local (mainly northern, north-eastern and biodiversity. eastern directions). Due to these factors

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