Relationship between the age distribution of horse mackerel and the intensity of the glow in the plankton community in the coastal waters of the Heracleian Peninsula (Black Sea)

The Mediterranean horse mackerel Trachurus mediterraneus ponticus is one of the mass fish species in the pelagic of the Black Sea. Studying of the interannual (2010–2015) changes in the intensity of the glow of the hydrobionts, which characterizes the state of the phyto- zooplankton community of the pelagial,was carried out and its relation to the age distribution and growth rates of the horse mackerel inhabiting the coastal waters of the southwestern shelf of the Crimea (the Black Sea) was found. It is shown that the intensity of glow of organisms in winter that characterizes the state of the plankton community of the pelagic determines the features of its development in the subsequent spring and summer periods and, as a consequence, affects the size and weight characteristics and the relative number of age groups of the mackerel in the spring-summer period in the coastal waters of the Heracleian peninsula. It was obtained that changes in the glow of organisms in winter and the relative number of yearlings and two-year-olds in coastal waters are characterized by a negative correlation coefficient, that is, when the intensity of the glow of the plankton community decreases in the winter period, the relative number of yearlings and two-year-olds increases in spring-summer catches of horse mackerel. It is noted that in the years characterized by a higher intensity of glow of organisms in May, the development of horse mackerel is more intense and in these years the individuals of horse mackerel grow well and gain weight. This is confirmed by a rather high correlation coefficient, which for horse mackerel of different age groups is within r = 0,73–0,84. The obtained results can be used in the commercial fishing in predicting the age composition and size and weight characteristics of horse mackerel in spring-summer catches.

1. Aleev Yu.G. 1952. Stavrida Chyornogo morya [Stavrida of the Black Sea]. Simferopol’: Krymizdat. 24 s.

2. Arhipov A. G. 1993. Ocenka chislennosti i osobennosti raspredeleniya promyslovyh ryb CHyornogo morya v rannem ontogeneze [Estimation of abundance and features of distribution of profish fish of the Black Sea in early ontogenesis] // Voprosy ihtiologii. T. 33, vyp. 4. S. 511–521.

3. Dekhnik T. V., Pavlovskaya P. M. 1 979. S ezonnye izmeneniya vidovogo sostava, raspredeleniya i chislennosti ihtioplanktona [Seasonal changes in the species composition, distribution and abundance of ichthyoplankton] // Osnovy biologicheskoj produktivnosti Chyornogo morya. Kiev: Naukova dumka. S. 268–272.

4. Zuev G. V., Mel ’nikova E.B. 2003. Ehkologogeograficheskaya gipoteza prois-hozhdeniya krupnoj chernomorskoj stavridy (Sarangidae, Pisces) [Ecological-geographical hypothesis of the origin of the large Black Sea horse mackerel (Carangidae, Pisces)] // Mor. ehkol. zhurn. T. 2. Vyp. 1. S. 59–73.

5. Kostyuchenko V. A., Saf’yanova T.E., Revina N. A. 1979. Stavrida [Stavrida] // Syr’evye resursy Chyornogo morya. M.: Pishchevaya promyshlennost’. S. 92–130.

6. Kuz’minova N.S. 2 016. S ostoyanie m assovyh v idov chernomorskih ryb, otlovlennyh v buhtah s raznym urovnem antropogennoj nagruzki v sovre-mennyj period [The state of mass species of Black Sea fishes, abandoned in bays with different levels of anthropogenic load in the modern period] // Ehkotoksikologicheskie issledovaniya pribrezhnoj cher-nomorskoj ihtiofauny v rajone Sevastopolya / [otv. red. I. I. Rudneva]. M.: GEOS. 360 s.

7. Mel ’nikova E.B. 2014. Biolyuminescenciya v funkcionirovanii ehkosistem pelagiali CHernogo morya [Bioluminescence in the functioning of Black Sea pelagic ecosystems]. Kiev: Fitosociocentr. 175 s.

8. Mel’nikova E.B., Tokarev Yu.N., Lyamina N. V. 2012. Sezonnye izmeneniya intensivnosti polya biolyuminescencii v pribrezhnyh vodah g. Sevastopolya (Chernoe more) [Seasonal changes in the intensity of the bioluminescence field in the coastal waters of the city of Sevastopol (Black Sea)] // Mor. ehkolog. zhurn. T. № 4. S. 55–63.

9. Pavlovskaya P. M. 1973. Osobennosti biologii razmnozheniya letnenerestya-shchihsya ryb Chyornogo morya i nekotorye prichiny kolebanij ih chislennosti [Peculiarities of the biology of reproduction of summerresting fishes of the Black Sea and some reasons for the fluctuations in their numbers] // Trudy VNIRO. T. 91.S. 33–45.

10. Pravdin I. F. 1966. Rukovodstvo po izucheniyu ryb [Guide to the study of fish]. M.: Pishch. promt’. 375 s.

11. Rokickij P. F. 1961. Osnovy variacionnoj statistiki dlya biologov [Foundations of Variational Statistics for Biologists]. Minsk. 221 s.

12. Salekhova L. P., Gordina A. D. 2005. O sovremennom sostoyanii Krymskoj populyacii chernomorskoj stavridy (Trachurus mediterraneus ponticus) u yugozapadnogo poberezh’ya Kryma [On the current state of the Crimean population of the Black Sea horse mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus ponticus) off the south-western coast of the Crimea] // Naukovі zapiski Ternopіl’s’kogo nacіonal’nogo pedagogіchnogo unіversitetu іmenі Volodimira Gnatyuka. Serіya: Bіologіya. Specіal’nij vipusk «Gіdroєkologіya». № 4 (27). S. 207–208.

13. Saf’yanova T.E., Revina N. I. 1967. Rost melkoj stavridy v vostochnoj chasti Chyornogo morya [Growth of small horse mackerel in the eastern part of the Black Sea] // Rybnoe hozyajstvo. № 6. S. 8–10.

14. Tkacheva K. S., Fedorina A. I. 1973. O roli zooplanktona v prognozirovanii dinamiki chislennosti planktonoyadnyh ryb Chernogo morya [About the role of zooplankton in predicting the dynamics of abundant plankton-eating fish of the Black Sea] // Trudy VNIRO. T. 91. S. 61–67.

15. Tokarev YU.N. 2006. Osnovy biofizicheskoj ehkologii morskih organizmov [Fundamentals of biophysical ecology of marine organisms]. Sevastopol’: InByum NAN Ukrainy. 342 s.

16. Tokarev Yu.N., Bityukov Eh.P., Vasilenko V. I., Sokolov B. G. 2000. Pole biolyuminescencii — harakternyj pokazatel’ struktury planktonnogo soobshchestva CHernogo morya [The field of bioluminescence is a characteristic indicator of the structure of the plankton community of the Black Sea] // Ehkologiya morya. № 53. S. 20–25.

17. Tokarev YU.N., Vasilenko V. I., ZHuk V.F. 2009. Novyj gidrobiofizicheskij kompleks dlya ehkspressnoj ocenki sostoyaniya pribrezhnyh ehkosistem [A new hydrobiophysical complex for the rapid assessment of the state of coastal ecosystems] // So-vremennye metody i sredstva okeanologicheskih issledovanij: Materialy XI Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-tekhnicheskoy konferenciy, «MSOI‑2009». M. CH.3. S. 23–27.

18. Cherepanov O. A., Levin L. A., Utyushev R. N. 2007. Svyaz’ biolyuminescencii s biomassoj i chislennost’yu svetyashchegosya i vsego planktona. 2. CHernoe more [The relationship of bioluminescence with biomass and the number of luminous and all plankton. 2. The Black Sea] // Mor. ehkol. zhurn. T. 6. Vyp 3. S. 84–89.

19. Chugunova N. I. 1952. Metodika izucheniya vozrasta i rosta ryb [A technique for studying the age and growth of fish]. M.: Sov. Nauka. 224 s.

20. Shul’man G.E., Urdenko S. Yu. 1989. Produktivnost’ ryb Chyornogo moray [Productivity of the fish of the Black Sea]. Kiev: Naukova dumka. 188 s.

21. Kayali E. 1998. Some population parameters and feeding ecology of mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus, Steindchner, 1868) and anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, Linnea, 1758), Ph.D.Thesis, KTU, Institute of Sci. and Tech. Trabzon. 197 p.

22. Pora E. 1979. Le chinchard de la Mer Noire (Trachurus mediterraneus ponticus), étude monographique. Institut roumain de recherches marines, Constanta (Roumanie). 753 p.

23. Yankova M., Pavlov D., Raykov V. 2009. Population dynamics of horse-mackerel (Trachurus mediterraneus), as a valuable economic species for the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The Annals of the University Dunarea de Jos of Galati Fascicle VI — Food Technology, New Series Year III (XXXII), Paper presented at the International Symposium Euro — aliment 2009, 9th — 10th of October 2009, Galati — Romania.