On the occurrence of oceanic tintinnines with particular consideration of the species Amphorides laackmanni (Jörgensen, 1924), (Ciliophora, Oligotrichida, Tintinnina) in the northern Adriatic Sea

Abstract

Investigations into the occurrence of oceanic tintinnines in the northern Adriatic Sea were carried out during 62 cruises between November 1979 and September 1995. A contribution to the knowledge of the ecological conditions behind the occurrence of oceanic tintinnines, particularly a consideration of the species Amphorides laackmanni (Tintinnina) in the northern Adriatic Sea, is presented in this paper. Oceanic tintinnines are usually very rare organisms and their occurrence in the northern Adriatic is connected with the inflow of oligotrophic water masses from the southern Adriatic in autumn. After exceptionally high freshwater discharge from the Po River caused an intensive diatom bloom (October 1993), in early November, with an intrusion of water of high salinity from the south, the mass occurrence of the rare species A. laackmanni in northern Adriatic open waters was noted, with a maximum of 890 indiv. ·l-1. This numerical abundance is the highest ever registered for oceanic tintinnines in the Adriatic Sea. Therefore it may be assumed that oceanic tintinnines occasionally play an important role in the food web in the northern Adriatic pelagic community.