Behaviour of Lake Baikal amphipods as a part of the night migratory complex in the Kluevka settlement region (south-eastern Baikal)

Abstract

The night migration complex in the bottom zone of the shallow-water slope on the east coast of southern Lake Baikal near the village of Kluevka was investigated. According to the observations, it was established that the pelagic fish of the suborder Cottoidei and the pelagic amphipodMacrohectopus branickiican sporadically participate in the migration complex. The mass presence of benthic amphipods was highest in the first minute of observations, with more than 250 individuals/freeze-frame, and then stabilized at 43-65 individuals/freeze-frame. The Juday net-collected amphipods comprised only one typically benthic species,Micruropus wohlii platycercus, which is known to be a nocturnal migrant. For the first time, the typically pelagic speciesM. branickii, was observed in the migratory complex over shallow coastal shoal, which species, according to all previous studies, was considered to inhabit only greater depths and to avoid areas with depths of less than 100 m, such as shallow-water slope bottom zones.

An underwater video system to assess abundance and behavior of epibenthic Mysis

“…Remote camera lander systems similar to ours have been used as early as the 1960s in marine systems (Ewing et al ), yet over 50 years since their inception, such systems are only starting to be adopted for remote use in deep lakes. In large lakes research, camera technologies are not widely incorporated in monitoring programs (Twiss and Stryszowska ) and a recent study in Lake Baikal using underwater video documented for the first time that the pelagic amphipod Macrohectopus branickii occurs on substrate where previously it was only considered to be pelagic (Karnaukhov et al ), similar to our novel findings for Mysis in Lake Champlain. In the Laurentian Great Lakes where invasive dreissenids now dominate benthic invertebrate biomass, camera equipped sleds have recently been incorporated to assess dreissenid patchiness and cover more area than traditional benthic grab surveys (Karatayev et al ).…”

Genetic diversity of Microsporidia in the circulatory system of endemic amphipods from different locations and depths of ancient Lake Baikal

“…Amphipods are omnivorous animals and can feed on other amphipods of different or the same species. Moreover, Baikal amphipods are characterized by high vertical and horizontal mobility: a significant part of the analysed species ( E. marituji , P. cancellus , A. lappaceus longispinus and others) can be found in a range of depths of at least several dozen meters and can participate in nocturnal vertical migrations observed for many benthic animals in Baikal ( Bazikalova, 1945 ; Karnaukhov et al, 2016 ); also, in Lake Baikal there are eurybathic scavenger amphipods (like Ommatogammarus flavus and O. albinus ), found in depth ranges of several hundred meters ( Bazikalova, 1945 ), which may serve as additional “carriers” of infections in the benthic community.…”

Behavioral differentiation and hybridization of the European and Asian forms of Harting’ vole Microtus hartingi (Rodentia, Arvicolinae)

“…In accordance with the hypothesis of Ryan & Pitman (1999) the Bosphorus could be form 7500 to 5000 years ago when the Mediterranean Sea level have been risen as a result of the melting of glaciers and the waters of the Mediterranean Sea were flow into Black Sea. In any case, the isolation of the Balkans from Asia Minor could begin in the Holocene in the period of last phase of regression, when the level of the Mediterranean Sea has risen by nearly 100 meters (Karnaukhov & Karnaukhov, 1997).…”