Original scientific paper
A submarine cave at the Island of Krk (North Adriatic Sea)
Milvana Arko-Pijevac
; Natural History Museum Rijeka, Lorenzov prolaz 1, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Čedomir Benac
; Faculty of civil engineering, University of Rijeka, V. Cara-Emina 5, HR-51000 Rijeka & Civil Engineering Institute of Croatia, Department of Rijeka, Vukovarska 10 a, HR-51000, Rijeka, Croatia
Marcelo Kovačić
; Natural History Museum Rijeka, Lorenzov prolaz 1, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Marin Kirinčić
; Natural History Museum Rijeka, Lorenzov prolaz 1, HR-51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
A submarine cave near Vrbnik (the island of Krk, Croatia) is 30 m long and has the shape of an irregular triangular prism, with its bottom covered by mud and boulders. Formed in Upper Cretaceous limestone under terrestrial conditions, probably during the Würm glaciation it was submerged during the Holocene rise in the sea-level. Preliminary biocenological studies revealed 23 taxa of macroflora at the cave entrance and 115 taxa of macrofauna (22 Porifera, 7 Cnidaria, 19 Bivalvia, 6 Gastropoda, 1 Cephalopoda, 1 Echiura, 1 Sipuncula, 8 Polychaeta, 15 Crustacea, 6 Bryozoa, 5 Echinodermata, 4 Tunicata, 20 Pisces). Malacostraca comprised 13 species of Decapoda and 2 species of Mysidiacea. Among the fishes only Gammogobius steinitzi is considered to be an exclusive cave inhabitant. The goby Thorogobius ephippiatus is by far the most abundant fish. From the cave entrance and up to 3 m into the cave a precoralligenous aspect of coralligenous biocenosis was registered. The biocenosis of semi-dark caves dominated by Porifera fauna occurs up to 25 m into the cave, while the final 5 m are characterised by biocenosis of caves and ducts in complete darkness with a predominance of Polychaeta.
Keywords
submarine cave; benthic biocenoses; fishes; crustaceans; Adriatic Sea; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
28795
URI
Publication date:
30.9.2001.
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