Analysis of the Patterns of Organization of Species Complexes of Ponto-Caspian and Ponto-Azovian Macrozoobenthos in the Middle and Lower Volga Reservoirs

The study of macrozoobenthos in the Middle and Lower Volga reservoirs has revealed stable cenotic complexes of Ponto-Caspian and Ponto-Azovian species, which are characterized by consortium interactions. It has been shown that the leading environment-forming role in bottom communities is played by dominant mollusk species: Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) and D. bugensis (Andrusov, 1897). Patterns of the formation of interconnected pairs of species in the Ponto-Caspian and Ponto-Azovian complexes in waterbodies of different types are analyzed.