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Observations in beach, intertidal and upper subtidal environments in Peter the Great Bay (north-western East Sea) have shown that attached algae were found on empty shells of 13 species of epifaunal and infaunal bivalve mollusks. Thirteen algae species were identified on empty dislodged shells but more than 50 species are known to be epibiotic on living bivalves. The dislodgement of shells with attached algae takes place in semi-enclosed, low-energy areas, as well as those which are open and affected by strong wave action, indicating the large scale of this phenomenon. The significance of seaweed transportation of living mollusks and their empty shells in the coastal zone, involving both taphonomic and ecological processes, is stressed. Algae appear to be a taphonomic agent and play a similar role as compared to birds or hermit crabs, but they act passively and contribute to environmental mixing in death assemblages in coastal environments.

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Seasonal dynamics of subtidal macrophyte assemblages in Sobol Bay (Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan) in relation to depth anna v. skriptsova and irina r. levenets A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far-Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690041, Russia This paper describes the species composition, vertical distribution, and the seasonal changes in the biomass of subtidal macrophytes in Sobol Bay (Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan). The samples were collected in the depth-range from 0.5 to 4 m. A total of 65 macrophyte species were identified, among which were 10 species of Chlorophyta, 17 of Phaeophyceae, 37 of Rhodophyta and 1 of Magnoliophyta. Multivariate analyses were performed to detect spatial and temporal variations. Maximum species richness was registered in June, with a particularly dramatic biomass increase of brown algae. Both the number of species and the biomass of macrophytes decreased with increasing depth. Depth clearly affected the patterns of seasonal fluctuations of the species composition and biomass. In the study area, the species composition of the shallow-water algal assemblages was more stable throughout the year compared to that of the algal assemblages found in deeper waters. In total, four macrophyte assemblages were identified in the bay. A Phyllospadix iwatensis and Coccophora langsdorfii dominated assemblage occupied muddy-gravel bottoms in depths from 0.5 to 2 m throughout the year. An assemblage, co-dominated by annual brown algae Desmarestia viridis and Costaria costata, occurred at depths more than 3 m at late spring. Two other assemblages occurred on the rock and boulder bottom at 0.5 -2 m depths, but they were temporally separated. An assemblage co-dominated by annual laminarian algae (Undaria pinnatifida and Costaria costata) developed at late spring and was succeeded in the autumn and winter by a Tichocarpus crinitus, Ulva lactuca, Sargassum pallidum and Codium fragile co-dominated assemblage. A comparison between the data obtained in the present study and the results of a previous study conducted in 1927 shows that the macrophytes assemblages in Sobol Bay underwent little change.

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