Abstract:

Silicoflagellate abundance, vertical distribution and morphology were studied during spring (March 2014) at three sampling stations locatedin the Northeast Aegean Sea adjacent to the Dardanelles Strait and characterized by a variable influx of cold, low-salinity Black Sea water.The silicoflagellate assemblage was dominated by Dictyocha stapedia and Stephanocha speculum with minor contribution of D. aculeata andOctactis pulchra. While specimens of D. stapedia were represented by the typical morphologies described in other areas of the Mediterranean Sea,populations of S. speculum displayed peculiar characters: they were large, predominantly 7-sided, with a small apical ring as well as apical ringspines, concave basal ring sides and non-rotated apical structure. Some of these features have been described for S. speculum at high latitudes, butthe combined characters make these specimens slightly different from the high latitude populations. Similar morphologies have been observed inthe western Black Sea, thus we can infer that the peculiar specimens detected in the Northeast Aegean are associated with the influx of Black Seawater masses.

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