Species composition of Black Sea marine planktonic copepods

- Changes in the species composition of the Black Sea planktonic copepods were analyzed.
- Three native copepods disappeared and two alien copepods were established in the Black Sea.
- Establishment of alien copepods was preconditioned by changes in the ecosystem.
- Hypothesis of mediterranization of the Black Sea zooplankton is not confirmed.

This paper reviews the changes in the marine planktonic copepods of the Black Sea species' list from the beginning of taxonomic research to the present day. The study was based on the SESAME biological database, unpublished data, literature and data obtained during the course of the SESAME project. Comparisons were made with the Guidebook for Marine Fauna of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which revealed changes both in the taxonomic status of some species and in the structure of the copepod community. The taxonomic status of two species (Acartia clausi small form and Centropages kroyeri pontica) and the nomenclature of two species (Oihona minuta and Calanus helgolandicus) have been changed. Three native species (Acartia margalefi, Oithona nana, and Paracartia latisetosa) have disappeared. Two non-indigenous copepods (Acartia tonsa and Oithona davisae) became established in the Black Sea ecosystem in the 1970s and 2000s, respectively. The success of their establishment was determined by biological features of the species and vulnerability of the native copepod community to invasions. It is highly probable that both species were introduced to the Black Sea by vessel ballast water. The hypothesis of “mediterranization” of the Black Sea fauna does not appear to hold true for zooplankton. Numerous claims of alien copepod species in the Black Sea remain largely unverified due to insufficient information. Data on newly discovered species of the Acartia genus are not authenticated. An updated list of marine planktonic copepods of the Black Sea is hereby presented.