Macrozooepiphyton of macrophytes of the shallow waters of the Kerch Strait and the coastal zone of the Taman Peninsula
The research was based on materials collected in the shallow waters of the Kerch Strait and the coastal zone of the Taman Peninsula in September 2019. Phytocenosis was represented by macrophytes of E. crinita, Ulva sp., Zostera sp., Stuckenia sp., Ceramium sp., Ruppia sp., Zannichelia sp., thickets of Ruppia sp. + Zostera sp. and Cystoseira sp. + Cladophora sp. + Polysiphonia sp. Six species of macrophytes were found in the waters of the Kamysh-Burun Bay, two species - near the village of Sennoy, and one species was found in each port: in Port Krym and Port Kavkaz. Fifty six species of macrozooepiphyton were found in the thickets of macrophytes, including Polychaeta (13 species), Crustacea (23), Mollusca (14) and representatives of the taxa Ascidiidae, Chironomidae, Platyhelminthes, Nemertea, and Actiniidae that were not identified to species. The maximum number of macrozoobenthos species was recorded on thickets of E. crinita (39), followed by thickets of Ruppia sp. + Zostera sp. (23), Cystoseira sp. + Cladophora sp. + Polysiphonia sp. (22), Ulva sp. (21), Stuckenia sp. and Zostera sp. (19 each), Zannichelia sp. (17), Ceramium sp. (15), Ruppia sp. (4). A high index of the Czekanowski-Sørensen coefficient was registered for the zooepiphyton found in the thickets of Cystoseira sp. + Cladophora sp. + Polysiphonia sp. - Stuckenia sp. (0.8), Stuckenia sp. - Ruppia sp. + Zostera sp. (0.7) and Ulva sp. - Stuckenia sp. (0.7). Animals were least similar in species composition in the macrophyte communities Ceramium sp. - Ruppia sp. (0.1), Ceramium sp. - Zostera sp. (0.2), Ceramium sp. - Cystoseira sp. + Cladophora sp. + Polysiphonia sp. (0.2). The mean abundance and biomass values of all macrozooepiphyton were 10762±4080 ind./kg and 107.644±61.089 g/kg, respectively. The maximum abundance of hydrobionts was recorded in the macrophytes Cystoseira sp. + Cladophora sp. + Polysiphonia sp. (29978 ind./kg) and the biomass in Ceramium sp. (165.208 g/kg). The macrozooepiphyton of the phytocenoses is represented by phytophages, detritophages, polyphages and carnivores. The largest number of species belongs to phytophages, the smallest group is detritophages.