Silicoflagellates in the eastern mediterranean and Black Seas: Seasonality, distribution and sedimentary record

Silicoflagellate populations and fluxes were analyzed from water samples and sediment traps in several basins of the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea, to show species distribution in response to ecological factors and compared with the Quaternary records of the region. In the eastern Mediterranean, Dictyocha stapedia was the most abundant species, represented by two varieties: var. stapedia, smaller and with an apex spine, that dominated in the pelagic settings, and var. aspinosa, larger and lacking an apex spine, that dominated in the north Adriatic Sea. Dictyocha aculeata was the second most abundant species, Octactis pulchra was seasonally dominant in the Adriatic Sea. Stephanocha speculum occurred sporadically in the Adriatic Sea with 6-sided normal-sized specimens, but was nearly absent from pelagic assemblages. In the Black Sea, assemblages and fluxes were characterized by larger 7-sided skeletons of D. speculum with apex spines and a lower abundance of O. pulchra.