The Analysis of the Structure, Productivity, and Distribution of Zoobenthocenoses in the Lithuanian Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea and the Importance of some Benthos Species to Fish Diet

Abstract

The article deals with the structure of zoobenthocenoses in the Lithuanian economic zone of the Baltic Sea, productivity and distribution of certain typical cenoses depending on the prevailing type of ground and depth. Zoobenthocenoses are identified according to the dominant organism species (Mytilus edulis–Balanus improvisus, Macoma baltica–Nereis diversicolor). The economic zone under consideration is divided into six regions each of them being discussed separately. Nutrition of some commercial fishes (cod, flounder, vimba, Baltic herring, Baltic sprat, smelt), in whose diet benthos turns to be an important component, is also discussed.