The community of structure of Prosobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) found on the soft bottoms of the coastal waters (0-5 m) in the Dardanelles

The aim of this study carried out on soft bottoms of the Dardanelles coastal waters (0-5 m) was to determine the community structure belong to the order, Prosobranchia (Gastropoda, Mollusca). Benthos samples of this study were collected using 30x30 quadrate by means of a SCUBA diver seasonally. The study was carried out as 3 transects in 8 stations chosen from different locations of the Dardanelles between July of 2008 and April of 2009. A total of 4472 specimens and 36 species belong to the order, Prosobranchia was recorded. Rissoa splendida Eichwald, 1830 was recorded as the dominant species (D%=20.57). Kilitbahir station had the highest number of individuals with 1069 individuals, while the Lapseki station had the lowest number of individuals with 157 individuals. According to Spearman?s Rank Correlation, the highest positive correlation (rs = 0.75) was between the salinity of sea water and the number of species. Conversely, the lowest correlation (rs = 0.51) was found between the pH and the number of species. With respect to Bray-Curtis Cluster Analyze, summer and winter periods were very similar with a value of 88.65%. Çanakkale and the Kilya inlet points were the most similar with a similarity value of 70.87%. Cosidering the values of H?, the highest H? value of 1,482 was recorded at the Kilitbahir station, on the contrary, the Lapseki and the Eceabat stations had the lowest value (H?=1.16).