The Alien Mollusk Anadara kagoshimensis in the Structure of Benthic Communities on the Crimean Shelf.

Over the past fifteen years, the frequency of occurrence of the alien mollusk Anadara kagoshimensis (Tokunaga, 1906) increased from 5 to 17–23% in the zoobenthos of the southern coast of the Crimean shelf. At the same time, the proportion of the alien mollusk was not significant and varied from 0.73 to 23.29% of the biomass and from 0.19 to 2.20% of the abundance of the macrozoobenthos in the benthic communities. The mollusk A. kagoshimensis was recorded in three communities: Chamelea gallina,Gouldia minima–Pitar rudis, and Gouldia minima. The mollusk Anadara has not formed an independent community there. The effect of this alien species on the benthic communities of the Crimean shelf was not as significant as on the bottom communities in the northwestern or in eastern parts of the Black Sea shelf. The structure of benthic communities has not significantly changed on the shelf of the southern coast of Crimea when compared to the 1970–1980s. The first record and the introduction of the alien mollusk to the Crimean shelf coincides with a decrease in salinity and an increase in temperature of the coastal waters that have been observed in the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]