Эпифитизм среди водорослей коралловых рифов и каменистых прибрежных экосистем в Южно-Китайском и Восточно-Китайском морях

Abstract

During the period from 1995 to 2019, the diversity, species composition and distribution of epiphytic algae in the ecosystems of coral reefs and hard substratum reefs in the South China Sea (Central and Southern Vietnam, Hainan Island) and East China Sea (islands of the Ryukyu and Amakusa archipelagos) were studied for the first time. More than 700 species and taxonomic forms of marine plants were found and identified in these four regions of the South China and East China Seas, of which about 33% were found in epiphytic life form. The largest number of seaweed species was collected on the coral reefs of Hainan Island (526), the least number of species was found in the coastal aquatic ecosystems of the Amakusa Archipelago islands (320). The relative number of epiphytic species of algae to total number of seaweed species was the largest on the Amakusa islands. Among the recorded species of epiphytic algae, about 40% of the species were found in obligate form, and more than 50% of the species were facultative epiphytes. The study areas differed in the species composition of epiphytes. Only 30% of the species were common to the studied areas. The most area-specific epiphytic species were recorded on the islands of Amakusa Archipelago. The causes and conditions of the widespread development of epiphytism among seaweeds in various biogeographic regions of the World Ocean are discussed. The supplement to the article provides a description of the morphology and anatomy of thalli of 40 widespread species of epiphytes. The descriptions are provided with color photographs and elements of their morphological and anatomical structures.

Keywords: marine algae, epiphytes, coral reefs, species composition