<i>POLYDORA WEBSTERI</i> - A COMMENSAL OF <i>ANADARA KAGOSHIMENSIS</i> IN THE AZOV-BLACK SEA REGION

Abstract

In January 2020, the presence of polychaete borers in the invader clam Anadara kagoshimensis (Tokunaga, 1906) was noted at the Chushka spit near Port Kavkas. Morphological analysis showed that the polychaetes belong to the species Polydora websteri Hartman in Loosanoff &amp; Engle, 1943, non-indigenous to the Azov-Black Sea basin. This species was first recorded in coastal waters of Romania on carbonate rocks in 1997, followed by findings in 2009 and 2019 in coastal areas of Sevastopol and Lake Donuzlav, correspondingly, in oysters Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793). Polydora websteri has not previously been recorded from the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov. Its presence in Anadara kagoshimensis in the Azov-Black Sea region, which is an invasion area for both species, is shown for the first time.