Investigation of alien bryozoan species along the Aegean sea

In this study, Bryozoa specimens were collected from 7 stations located along the Aegean Sea (İzmir-Passport, İzmir-Levent Marina, Çeşme-Dalyan Marina, fishing port in Seferihisar-Sığacık Limanı, Urla-İskele, Karaburun and Mordoğan Fishing Port) in August and November 2015. The aim of this study was to identify all bryozoan species found at the stations and to find out the relationships between environmental variables and non native species. Within the framework of this study, 19 bryozoan species belonging to 12 families and 3 order were identified at sampling stations. In summer and autumn periods, the lowest number of species was determined in Pasaport (S1) and the highest number of species was found in Sığacık (S7). According to the Soyer's Frequency Index, Bugula neritina and Schizoporella errata were considered as constant in summer and autumn periods respectively. Among 19 bryozoan species identified, 3 alien (Amathia verticillata, Celleporaraia brunnea and Celleporaria aperta) and 2 cryptogenic (B. neritina and Microporella ciliata) species were found. Additionally, the alien species C. aperta is being newly recorded along the coast of Turkey. The relationships between physico-chemical variables, and alien (A. verticillata, C. brunnea) and cryptogenic (B. neritina,) species which were in constant category in both sampling periods were investigated using the logistic regression analysis. The results showed that there are significant relationships between temperature and B. neritina; amonium, ortho phosphate, total phosphate concentrations and A. verticillata; and dissolved oxygen and C. brunnea (p<0,05).