E. A. Shushkina, E. I. Musaeva, L. L. Anokhina, and T. A. Lukasheva
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovskii pr. 36, Moscow, 117218 Russia
Received April 26, 2000
Abstract—On the basis of field and experimental studies in Golubaya Bay (near Gelendzhik) during the period
from August 1999 to March 2000, the abundance, biomass, ratio between body size and weight, as well as car-
bon content in wet biomass were estimated for a newcomer into the Black Sea—the ctenophore Beroe ovata.
On the basis of the material obtained and using the data on the oxygen consumption rates, the specific metabolic
rate, production rate, and the food intake of beroe were estimated. We also estimated the influence of this cteno-
phore on other species of gelatinous macroplankton: the jellyfish aurelia and the ctenophore mnemiopsis. The
above-listed ecological and physiological parameters were compared; the differences between the ratio values
of dry to wet weight for all three species were revealed to be insignificant (2.0–2.5%). The carbon content in
the wet biomass was 0.1% for mnemiopsis, 0.15% for beroe, and 0.3% for jellyfishes. Due to a more intensive
metabolism, growth, and greater feeding rates of the ctenophores, especially beroe, as compared with the
autochtonous species Aurelia (by factors of about 1.5 and 2, respectively), the populations of mnemiopsis (a
competitor of aurelia and planktivorous fishes) significantly reduced the stocks of these fishes. In August–Octo-
ber 1999, a new intruder beroe appeared; during the period under study, it grazed on (according to a preliminary
estimation) 30–80% of the population of mnemiopsis. This resulted in a decrease in the biomass of mnemiopsis
by a factor of about 10 and an increase in the biomass of aurelia.
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