Temporal Changes in the Polychaeta (Annelida) Community Associated with Cystoseira Beds of Sinop Peninsula (Southern Black Sea)

In order to determine seasonal trends of Polychaeta fauna associated with Cystoseira (C. barbata and C. crinita) facies along the Sinop Peninsula (Black Sea), a total of 9 stations were selected and sampled with scuba diving between October 2013 and July 2014, seasonally. The results of qualitative and quantitative analysis of samples, 39 species and 10,199 individuals belong to 17 families were identified. Among them, Sabellaria spinulosa (Leuckart, 1849) was firstly reported from the Turkish Black Sea coast. Syllidae was the most representative family in the area. The most dominant and frequent species were Platynereis dumerillii (Audouin & Milne Edwards, 1833) and Salvotoria clavata (Claparede, 1863). The maximum number of species (27 species) was observed in autumn, the highest mean number of individuals (27,441.7 ind.m(-2)) was counted in spring. The correlation between polychaete community associated with Cystoseira beds and environmental variables was strongly high (r=0.90) according to Canonical Correspondence Analysis.