Mediterranean and Pontic facies with Mytilus galloprovincialis

Description (English)

This facies characterised by the dominance of the mollusc bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis is typical of areas with high levels of organic input. In the Black Sea this habitat is distributed across wide areas, in the mediolittoral as well as into the infralittoral, from the spray zone to 55 m, where the dominant species is the bivalve mollusc Mytilus galloprovincialis, the most widespread mussel in the Black Sea (Zaitsev and Aleksandrov, 1998). The biocenosis consists of 105 animal species (Zaitsev and Alexandrov 1998) of which the most characteristic are: Polychaeta - Nereis (Neanthes) succinea, Nereis diversicolor, Polydora ciliata limicola; Mollusca - Mytilus galloprovincialis, Mytilaster lineatus; Crustacea - Balanus improvisus, Jaera sarsi, Stenothoe monoculoides, Marinogammarus olivii, Melita palmate, Microdeutopus gryllotalpa, Amphitoe viallanti, Jassia ocia, Erichthonius difformis (Alexandrov, 2006). On the NW shelf the mass species are: Mya arenaria, Balanus improvisus, Nereis succinea, Prionopsio cirrifera. On the Crimean shelf the mass species are:the mollusc, Modiolus adriaticus, and the polychaete Terebellides stroemi. Along the Turkish coasts, the most encountered amphipod species are: Jassa marmorata, Hylae crassipes, Ampithoe ramondi, Corophium acherisicum, Corophium acutum (Sezgin et al., 2001). Ephemeral algae may cover Mytilus.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification