STELA RUCI, DENADA KASEMI, SAJMIR BEQIRAJ
Department of Plant Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Agriculture University of Tirana, Albania
Departament of Biology, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University “Ismail Qemali” Vlorë
Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, Albania
*Corespnding author E-mail: rucistela@gmail.com; sruci@ubt.edu.al
Abstract
This paper represents seasonal comparisons of the characteristics of macrozoobenthic assemblages from the shallow rocky areas of the Adriatic Sea in Albania. Sampling has been carried out in four areas, namely Shën Pjetër, Kallm, Spille and Triport, in Spring, Summer and Autumn 2011, in very shallow water, including the supralittoral, mediolittoral and upper limit of infralittoral. The groups with the highest presence and abundance were mollusks of the families Patellidae, Trochidae, Cerithiidae, Buccinidae and Columbellidae, crustaceans of the families Cancridae, the echinoderms Arbaciidae and the cnidarians Actiniidae. Trochid gastropods had the highest abundance in all sites and in all sampled seasons. Species composition, abundance and their seasonal differences have been analyzed in a comparative way between the four studied areas. A possible important factor influencing the species presence and quantitative characteristics of macrozoobenthic assemblages, as well as their seasonal differences in the studied areas seems to be closely related to the algal cover.
Keywords: Macrozoobenthos, rocky coast, hard bottoms, Adriatic Sea, Albania.
