BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2015, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 215-218

Features of spatial distribution of the Japanese mud shrimp Upogebia major (De Haan, 1841) (Decapoda: Upogebiidae) in Vostok Bay, the Sea of Japan

© 2015 N. I. Selin

A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041

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In the estuary of the Volchanka River, Vostok Bay, Sea of Japan, the Japanese mud shrimp Upogebia major forms a population in the upper sublittoral at a depth of 0.5-3 m in slightly silted sand. This population covers both open coastal bottom areas and a belt of the eelgrass Zostera marina, oriented parallel to the shoreline. The population density and biomass of the mud shrimp, estimated by abundance of holes on the ground surface, averaged 5.3 ± 4.6 ind./m² and 36.46 ± 16.74 g/m², respectively, and those calculated from the total sampling at counting sites were 4.2 ± 2.6 ind./m² and 28.90 ± 17.89 g/m², respectively. The biomass of macrozoobenthos represented by nine taxa reached 87 g/m². Bivalves dominated in the community by biomass and slightly surpassed the crustaceans, among which U. major dominated (33.2-41.9% of the total biomass of the macrozoobenthos).

Key words: Upogebia major, spatial distribution, abundance, associated fauna, Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan.