Pontic Phyllophora nervosa biocenosis on shell gravel

Description (English)

The dominant species is the alga Phyllophora nervosa. In addition to the dominant species there are three other species of Phyllophora: Phyllophora brodiaei, Phyllophora pseudoceranoides, Phyllophora trallii. There are 118 species of invertebrates in the Phyllophora field the most characteristic of which are: Bittium reticulatum, Harmothoe imbricata, Balanus improvisus, Synisoma capito (Zaitsev and Alexandrov 1998). Studies conducted in the NW shelf area (Zernov's Phyllophora field) indicated tht the mass macrozoobenthos species are: the bivalve mollusc Mytilus galloprovincialis, Mytilaster lineatus, the gastropod Rissoa parva, the barnacle Balanus improvisus and the polychaete Nereis succinea. In Egorlitsky Bay the mass species are Mytilaster lineatus, Nereis zonata and Platynereis dumerilii. Studies conducted along the Romanian coast (Vailiu and Bodeanu, 1972) indicate that Phyllophora nervosa and Phyllophora brodiae are present between 10-56 m with highest biomass recorded in the northernmost part of the Romanian coasts, at 43-46 m depth where the presence of Phyllophora brodiae is favoured by the presence of a particular substrate given by the massive development of calcareous algal concretions of the red alga Lithothamnion present on bivalve shells (Vasiliu and Bodeanu, 1972). In Romanian waters, in the area known as Zernov's Phyllophora field, the fauna is composed mostly of Mytilus galloprovincialis up to 20-30 meters depth, and Modiolus phaseolinus at depths exceeding 30 meters (Tiganus, 1991-1992).

Source: EUNIS habitat classification