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The distribution of macrozoobenthic communities was studied in a vast ultrashallow (0-1.2 m deep) zone of northwestern Taman Bay (separated from the Kerch Strait by Chushka spit) in 2008-2009. Fifty-two species of benthic invertebrates were recorded. The species number, as well as Shannon and Pielou diversity indices, increased along Chushka spit from base to tip. The usual inhabitants of lagoons and estuaries of the Mediterranean Basin and the open Sea of Azov dominated in benthic communities: mollusks Abra segmentum and Hydrobia acuta and polychaetes Heteromastus filiformis and Hediste diversicolor (the latter only in summer). Changes in the community structure were largely determined by the seasonal dynamics of dominant species populations, which was similar to their dynamics in certainother transitional water bodies of the Mediterranean Basin. These changes indicate normal running of seasonal processes in the macrobenthic communities of Taman Bay in 2008 rather than the consequences of a catastrophic black oil spill in the Kerch Strait in

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An assessment of the presentability of the biotopes and benthic communities of the northwestern part of the Utrish Nature Reserve marine area for the Caucasian Black Sea coast has been conducted. The literary and original data on the state of benthos in the area from the Kerch Strait to Adler were examined. The studied area of the Utrish Natural Reserve included habitats that are common along the coast (an active cliff, a narrow pebble beach, boulder deposits, rock bench and soft sediments). Only two of the three well-known Black Sea belt macrozoobenthic biocoenoses were observed along the northeastern Black Sea coast: the shallow-water «venus sand» and the deep-water «phaseolina silt». The third biocoenosis («mussel mud») was not noted neither in the reserve's area nor in the studied part of the shelf to the south of Novorossiysk. Of these three belts only «venus sand» was found in the Utrish Nature Reserve's marine area. The absence of the mussel belt in the studied area of the reserve is typical for the southern part of the North Caucasian coast in the current period and thus does not affect the presentability of the reserve's benthic ecosystem. The biocoenosis of the bivalves Pitar rudis -Gouldia minima was common at the muddy sand with shells in both reserve's and reference sites' middle-depths complex instead of the mussel belt which was typical for the 20 th century. Its boundary was 10 m deeper in the reserve compared to the reference sites. The absence of the Modiolula phaseolina belt in the area of the reserve could be explained by the insufficient width of the protected marine area (up to 52 m depth); due to this the deep-water complex in the reserve is actually represented by a narrow strip. Extension of the reserve's boundary over the depth of 70 m will include this biocoenosis into the Protected Area, which would significantly increase the presentability of the reserve's marine part for the North Caucasian coast. The biogeographical composition of the reserve's flora, its species diversity and structure in general corresponds to that of the whole region. The macrophyte zone consists of four belts: upper (0-2 m, Dictyota fasciola f. repens + Polysiphonia opaca + Ceramium ciliatum + Ulva compressa), upper mid (2-12 m, Cystoseira crinita + Cystoseira barbata -Cladostephus spongiosus -Ellisolandia elongata), lower mid (12-18 m, Phyllophora crispa, Codium vermilara and Bonnemaisonia hamifera), and the lower belt (below 18 m) formed by a recent invader, B. hamifera. The majority of species found in the reserve's marine area are common species of the Black Sea macrophytobenthos. However, the Utrish Nature Reserve includes more favourable habitats for macrophytes than most of the North Caucasian coast, because the typical macrophyte Cystoseira spp. have been noted at greater depths in the reserve, in comparison to the remaining shelf.

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Tamanskij Bay opens into the Kerch Strait which connects the Black and the Azov seas and houses the shallow ecosystem which is the most important in the Russian part of the Black Sea. This ecosystem is dominated by sea grasses (Zostera marina etc). We have been studying bottom sediment hydrocarbons distribution and biomarkers of the pollution in Mytilus galloprovincialis for two years after the wreck of "Volgoneft' 139" and spilling of more than 1.5 thousand t of residual oil in the Kerch Strait in November 2007. The high level of hydrocarbons in bottom sediments was observed within the analysis of samples taken in 2008 (to 1.5 mg/g). The hydrocarbon level in bottom sediments significantly decreased by July 2009. The n-alkanes distribution analysis reveals two following pollution sources in study area: accidental pollution by residual oil after spill and local pollution sources related to the settlements and the ports. The study of biomarkers in mussels indicated the oil spill pollution effects only.As the considered study reveals, at present the ecosystem overcomes the negative effects of the oil spill due to its selfpurification sources. However, in case of the recurrent pollution, the situation may change.

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