Macrobenthos of the intertidal zone in the Gizhiginskaya Guba and Yamskaya Guba (Shelikhov Bay, Okhotsk Sea)

Abstract

The intertidal zone of the Gizhiginskaya Guba and Yamskaya Guba inlets located in the Shelikhov Bay is surveyed and 179 species are found in its macrobenthos (66 plants and 113 animals). They form 25 communities, including 7 ones on soft bottom sediments, 12 - on hard substrates, and 6 transitional (mixed) communities. The community of Lyonsia cucumerina is endemic of the Shelikhov Bay, it occupies the mixed substrate, namely flat rocks covered with silty sand that occur in the Gizhiginskaya Guba and at Ust’-Palana.