The Meroplankton of Amurskii Bay (Peter the Great Bay,Sea of Japan)

Russian Journal of Marine Biology - The composition and seasonal dynamics of meroplankton in Amurskii Bay (Sea of Japan) were studied for the first time. The total survey period exceeded two years....     

New Data on Rotifers of Peter the Great Bay,Sea of Japan

The first records of 11 species of rotifers from Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan) are reported. Of these, Synchaeta grimpei, Aspelta clydona, Encentrum algente, and E. graingeri are the first records for the Pacific Ocean. Synchaeta pacifica and S. posjetica described from Peter the Great Bay by Chaga (1984) are considered as nomen dubium.Original Russian Text Copyright ¢ 2005 by Biologiya Morya, Chernyshev.     

Fouling of hydrotechnical structures in western Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

We studied the fouling of piers and quays in Amurskii and Pos’et bays, the Sea of Japan. The main fouling communities and groupings were identified. They were usually dominated by bivalves, the musselMytilus trossulus and the oysterCrassostrea gigas. The exotic speciesBalanus improvisus was found to naturalize in the fouling on the hydrotechnical structures of the Amurskii Bay. The qualitative composition of the fouling of the structures examined was compared using cluster analysis.     

Karyotype of sculpin,Myoxocephalus stelleri from Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

We studied the karyotype of the frog sculpinMyoxocephalus stelleri Tilesius (Cottidae) from Peter the Great Bay: 2n=40; NF=46. In the series of two-armed chromosomes, there is a pair of large submetacentric ones, while there are two pairs of large subtelocentric chromosomes in the one-armed series. Ag-NOR staining revealed nucleolus organizer regions in the short arms of two pairs of subtelocentric chromosomes that differed in size. We found neither differences between male and female karyotypes nor variability of any type. The karyotype ofM. stelleri is compared with that of the short-spined sea scorpionM. scorpius.     

Pollution in Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan, and its biological consequences

This review summarizes information published in the 1980s–1990s about anthropogenic pollution in Peter the Great Bay, the largest of the bays in the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan. The coastal zone of the bay occupies about 12% of the area of Primorskii Province and is the most heavily populated. The bulk of the human settlements, the seaports of Vladivostok and Nakhodka, railways, industrial enterprises, and developed agriculture are located in the coastal zone. Sewage waters containing multicomponent mixtures of polluting agents of both mineral and organic origin are discharged into the coastal waters of the bay. This paper presents information about the concentration of major classes of polluting agents (oil hydrocarbons, polychlorinated hydrocarbons, surfactants, heavy metals, and radionuclids) in the water and bottom sediments of the bay. The results of physico-chemical and biogeochemical investigations performed in the 1970s–1990s justify considering Zolotoi Rog Bay, Bosfor Vostochnyi Strait, Nakhodka Bay (especially its innermost portion, around the harbor of Nakhodka), and Amurskii Bay to be the most polluted areas in Peter the Great Bay. The information about the biological consequences of pollution in these water areas is briefly reviewed.     

Spawning of the sea ravenHemitripterus villosus in Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

The spawning habits of the sea ravenHemitripterus villosus were investigated by scuba diving at shallow rocky bottom sites around Bolshoi Pelis Island (Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan). Spawning occurs in September, when the surface water temperature drops. The optimum spawning temperature is 17–18°C. The fish density in nest sites reaches 120/300 m². The mean individual fecundity is about 10000 eggs. Over 35% of the egg masses ofH. villosus are eaten by echinoderms, primarilyPatiria pectinifera andStrongylocentrotus nudus. Since fecundity is relatively low and parents do not take care of the egg masses, predation can strongly affect the abundance of this species.     

Allozyme variability of the gastropodTegula rustica from Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

Eight polymorphic loci were surveyed in three samples of the gastropodTegula rustica collected in a clean area of Peter the Great Bay and in three samples from a heavily polluted area of the bay. Macrospatial, microspatial, and temporal differences in allele frequencies and heterozygosity were found at some of the loci; however, the genetic similarity among the samples was very high. It is concluded that allozyme variability at the surveyed loci ofT. rustica cannot be used in pollution monitoring of Peter the Great Bay.     

Fauna of Sponges (Porifera) of Peter the Great Bay,Sea of Japan

A complete list of sponges of Peter the Great Bay (northwestern Sea of Japan) is presented comprising 40 species belonging to 27 genera, 19 families, 9 orders, and 2 classes. Information is presented about the biogeographical composition of sponge fauna of the bay, the depths of their habitats, and their substrates.Original Russian Text Copyright ¢ 2005 by Biologiya Morya, Khodakovskaya.     

Reproduction Peculiarities of Plain Sculpin Myoxocephalus jaokin Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

We performed observations in the spawning grounds of the plain sculpin. We found that the spawning of this species in Peter the Great Bay begins in December and takes place along the coast. The egg clutches are guarded by the males.     

Morphology of gametes in sea urchins from Peter The Great Bay,Sea of Japan

The fine structure of the gametes in six sea urchin species of the Sea of Japan was studied. The sperm in Strongylocentrotus nudus, S. intermedius, Echinocardium cordatum, Scaphechinus mirabilis, Sc. griseus and Echinarachnius parma are species-specific. The conical head and symmetrically disposed ring-shape mitochondrion are common to regular sea urchin sperm cells. S. nudus is characterized by the bulb-shaped head of the sperm; S. intermedius, by a bullet-shaped one. The sperm spearhead and small amount of post-acrosome material are common to irregular sea urchins; the sperm width: length ratio varies for different species, with the highest for Sc. mirabilis. The sperm of Sc. griseus is characterized by two lipid drops in the middle part of sperm. Asymmetrical mitochondrion disposal is usual for E. parma. Actin filaments are found in the postacrosome material in the sperm of heart-shaped sea urchins. The differences in the fine structure of sperm in cosmopolitan species Ech. cordatum inhabiting the Sea of Japan and coastal areas of the Northeast Atlantic may bear record to the complex existence of species Ech. cordatum. The fine structure of sperm is unique for each of the studied families, Strongylocentrotidae, Scutellidae, and Loveniidae. The eggs of all the species are characterized by vitelline and jelly-like membranes. The vitelline membrane is formed by cytoplasm protrusions; the area between them is filled with fibrillar material. The jelly-like membrane is formed by fibrillar material associated with apical parts of microvilli of the vitelline membrane. The irregular sea urchins Sc. griseus, Sc. mirabilis and E. parma are characterized by chromatophores situated in the jelly-like membrane, with the highest abundance in Sc. mirabilis.     

Colonial Nesting Birds of Peter the Great Bay,Sea of Japan (Pelecaniformes,Ciconiiformes)

Russian Journal of Marine Biology - This study reports recent data on the distribution and breeding abundance of seven species of colonial birds on the coast of Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan....     

Salinity tolerance and morphology of the osmoregulation organs in Cladocera with special reference to Cladocera from the Aral sea

The hyperosmotic regulation of adult Cladocera is determined mainly by the amount of salts consumed with the food and by reabsorption of salts in cells of the nuchal (neck) organ. The hypoosmotic regulation both in adults and embryos is determined mainly by excretion of salts in special epipodite cells or in cells of the nuchal (neck) organ. The salinity of the Aral sea for the last 30 years increased from 8–10 to 26–28, which led to changes in the Cladocera fauna. At present only 4 species of Cladocera inhabit the Aral sea instead of 14 species that were previously found. These changes are in agreement with osmoregulation capacities of Cladocera. Note added in proof. Since this paper was accepted for publication, all Cladocera have disappeared from the Aral Sea. This happened when salinity reached 30–32. This disappearance was predicted by and agrees with earlier laboratory experiments with Aral Sea Cladocera (Aladin, 1982b).     

Maximum Sizes of Some Species of Fish in the Far East State Marine Reserve, Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

The results of 6-year-long observations on the size of some fish species of the Far East State Marine Reserve (Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan) suggest that resident fishes attain maximum size in the waters of the reserve. Compared to previously known sizes of fish, record values were found for the white-spotted greenling Hexagrammos stelleri (540 mm), the frog sculpin Myoxocephalus stelleri (490 mm), the snowy sculpin M. brandti (418 mm); the fringed blenny Chirolophis japonicus (520 mm), and some other fishes. These data confirm the opinion that the Marine Reserve waters are the reservation of the genofond of the inhabiting fish.     

Fauna of Prosobranch Gastropods of Peter the Great Bay,Sea of Japan,and the Biogeographical Composition

The complete list of prosobranch gastropods comprising 195 species classified in 97 genera and 38 families was compiled for Peter the Great Bay (northwest of the Sea of Japan) and the adjacent water areas. In general, in the bay low boreal species prevail, which supported its assignment to the Manchurian (North Japanese, Sea of Japan, Asian) Low Boreal Pacific Subregion of the Boreal Pacific Region. Shallow water thermotropic species mostly prevailed in the littoral and upper sublittoral (to a depth of 50 m) zones of the bay; psychrotropic species were found in the lower sublittoral and upper bathyal (50–500 m) zones; and bathyal thermotropic species inhabited the lower (more then 500 m) bathyal zone.     

Bacterial communities of brown and red algae from Peter the Great Bay, the Sea of Japan

The structure of microbial communities of brown algae, red algae, and of the red alga Gracilaria verrucosa, healthy and affected with rotten thallus, were comparatively investigated; 61 strains of heterotrophic bacteria were isolated and characterized. Most of them were identified to the genus level, some Vibrio spp., to the species level according to their phenotypic properties and the fatty acid composition of cellular lipids. The composition of the microflora of two species of brown algae was different. In Chordaria flagelliformis, Pseudomonas spp. prevailed, and in Desmarestia viridis, Bacillus spp. The composition of the microflora of two red algae, G. verrucosa and Camphylaephora hyphaeoides, differed mainly in the ratio of prevailing groups of bacteria. The most abundant were bacteria of the CFB cluster and pseudoalteromonads. In addition, the following bacteria were found on the surface of the algae: Sulfitobacter spp., Halomonas spp., Acinetobacter sp., Planococcus sp., Arthrobacter sp., and Agromyces sp. From tissues of the affected G. verrucosa, only vibrios were isolated, both agarolytic and nonagarolytic. The existence of specific bacterial communities characteristic of different species of algae is suggested and the relation of Vibrio sp. to the pathological process in the tissues of G. verrucosa is supposed.     

Microelement composition of the green alga Ulva fenestrata from Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

Concentrations of heavy metals Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Ni were determined in the thalluses of the green alga Ulva fenestrata sampled from different locations in Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan). According to the metal concentrations in Ulva, the degree of pollution of the surveyed areas in Peter the Great Bay decreases in the following series: Amur Bay > Ussuri Bay > Nakhodka Bay > Vostok Bay > the water area of Far Eastern State Marine Nature Biosphere Reserve. The microelement composition of Ulva from open-shore stations reflects the heavy metal pollution level of water areas as a whole. The concentrations of trace elements in U. fenestrata from closed coastal areas are indicative of marine coastal water pollution from local sources. Generally, metal concentrations in U. fenestrata from Peter the Great Bay are similar to heavy metal levels in non-polluted or weakly polluted coastal areas of the world.     

Distribution of echinoderms and their larvae in the southwestern Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan

Based on results of processing planktonic and benthic samples collected in 1996 and 1997, a spatial distribution of echinoderms in the bottom and of their larvae in the plankton were collated for the water area of the Southern region of the Far Eastern State Biosphere Marine Reserve. Some correlation between distributions of the adult and larval sea star Asterias amurensis in July was revealed. At the same time, there was no correlation between distributions of larvae and adult individuals of the brittle star Ophiura sarsi and sea urchin Echinocardium cordatum, which are most abundant in the area. The size structure of bottom populations of the brittle stars O. sarsi and Amphiodia fissa in the studied area was assessed. The correlation coefficient between the distribution of young-of-the-year and the population density was 0.47 in O. sarsi and 0.74 in A. fissa respectively, which implied a selective settling of larvae of those species in areas inhabited by adult brittle stars. Recruitment of bottom populations from 1996 spawning was 5% in O. sarsi and 3.3% in A. fissa.     

Ichthyofauna composition in the mesobenthal of Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan)

Based on our data, 76 species of fish from 57 genera and 19 families are found in the mesobenthal of Peter the Great Bay. At depths greater than 200 m in the open part of the bay, no less than five species occur that are lacking closer to the coast; twenty species are capable of descending to a larger depth than was previously assumed. The species composition of fish in the mesobenthal is impoverished during the period of the hydrological summer and is considerably enriched in the cold time of the year, which is related to the wintering migrations of many species from shelf waters to the continental slope. Mass, common, and rare, as well as permanently occurring fish are determined for each hydrological season. The lowest fish biomass is observed in the warm time of the year, and the highest in winter and spring. Specific features of the spatial and temporal variation in the composition of mass fish in the mesobenthal are shown.     

Arenicolous mycelial fungi from the littoral of the Vostok Bay (Peter the Great Bay,the Sea of Japan)

The taxonomic composition of marine mycelial fungi was determined in the interstitial habitats of the Vostok Bay littoral (Peter the Great Bay, the Sea of Japan). A total of 39 species of ascomycetes and anamorphic fungi were detected and identified. The predominant species of the intertidal zone were Corollospora maritima, C. lacera, Carbosphaerella leptosphaerioides, Arenariomyces trifurcatus (Ascomycota), Alternaria alternata, Scolecobasidium arenarium, and Zalerion maritimum (anamorphic fungi). The complete list of species of obligately marine ascomycetes and anamorphic fungi from the interstitial habitats of the Vostok Bay littoral is presented for the first time