Structure of zoocenoses of artificial reef fouling in Northern Caspian

The study of artificial substrates fouling in the Caspian Sea is carried out by many scientists. The initiators of installing the artificial reefs in recent years have been the oil companies operating in the Caspian Sea, while the main goal was to improve the quality of the marine environment by increasing the self-cleaning ability of the marine ecosystem due to the development of filter organisms forming dense clusters on the surfaces of artificial substrates. There are presented the results of studies of the qualitative and quantitative composition of zooperiphyton of artificial reefs installed in the northern part of the Caspian Sea at the depths of 4-10 m. Samples were taken from the concrete artificial substrates. The studies were carried out by the conventional research methods. As a result, there were obtained the data on species composition of the zooocenosis of fouling and their quantitative characteristics. In zooperiphyte samples there were found 11 species from 4 classes of invertebrates: Crustacea, Mollusca, Polychaeta, and Hydrozoa. Of this number of species, the largest abundance and biomass were formed by Balanus improvisus (Balanidae) and Mytilaster lineatus (Mytilidae). The level of development of these two species determined the general indicators of zoocenosis of artificial reef fouling. The remaining species had low indicators of quantitative development, but were important for the fouling biodiversity of the Caspian Sea. There has been defined the influence of the depth of artificial reef installation on the development of fouling organisms, found their higher quantitative characteristics compared to zoobenthos, and the structure-forming species of zooperiphyton in the survey area.