Qualitative and quantitative investigations of the tintinnids along the eastern coast of the Adriatic

Abstract

       This paper presents data on the annual, seasonal and vertical distribution, and on the abundance of tintinnids along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, from 1973 until 1976. 

         A total of 78 species were found, 30 are new to the Adriatic Sea. Poroecus tubulosus was found for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea.

         In the southern and middle Adriatic, beside more diverse fauna, the greatest quantity of tintinnids appear in autumn with the decrease of temperature from, on an average, 18°C to the lowest values in January, approximately 13°C. With the increase of sea temperature in April, the quantity of tintinnids rapidly decreases, and in August there is a mi­nimum. Owing to special hydrographic conditions in the Kvarner region this sequence is altered.

        The total number of tintinnids increases from the open sea towards the coast, with the largest number in bays, for instance, in the Bay of Mali Ston up to 1.5 million cells/m³ in February.