Mass development of periphyton ciliates in the coastal zone of Southern Baikal in 2019-2020

Abstract

Changes in biocenoses of the shallow water zone of open Lake Baikal continue. In the autumn of 2019 during scuba dives, we recorded abundant fouling of macrophytes in the littoral zone by ciliates of the subclass Peritrichia, the genus Vorticella, at the Listvyanka settlement – Bolshiye Koty settlement section (west coast of Southern Baikal). Despite the fact the Vorticella are the permanent component of the Bailak periphyton, such mass development of Peritrichia in the littoral zone of open Baikal has not been previously recorded. Increasing anthropogenic pressure in the littoral zone of the lake can be one of the main causes of this outbreak in the abundance of Vorticella cf. campanula, the main species of this fouling.