Biodiversity of soft-bottom macrozoobenthos along the Sinop coasts (southern Black Sea): influence of environmental drivers

Context The Black Sea faces continuous anthropogenic pressures, requiring updated baseline data to assess coastal benthic habitat resilience.

By Bat, Kurt, Mülayim +2Marine and Freshwater ResearchSep 30, 2026

Score████░░░░░░4.4

VerdictWorth a reader's time today.

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Abstract

Context The Black Sea faces continuous anthropogenic pressures, requiring updated baseline data to assess coastal benthic habitat resilience. Aims This study evaluates the seasonal taxonomic composition, diversity and community structure of soft-bottom macrozoobenthos along the Sinop coasts. Methods Benthic sampling was conducted at six stations (8–72 m) in May and November 2016 using a 0.1-m2 Van Veen grab. Community structure was analysed using diversity indices and the Turkish benthic index (TUBI). Key results In total, 101 macrozoobenthic species were identified, including Neanthes acuminata, a new record for the Turkish Black Sea coast. May samples yielded 95 species (2763 individuals, dominated by Mollusca), whereas November yielded 71 species (1619 individuals, dominated by Polychaeta). Key dominant species across seasons included Nereis zonata, Capitella capitata, Lentidium mediterraneum and Amphiura chiajei. Amphibalanus improvisus was the only alien species. Conclusions The region supports a diverse benthic community with clear seasonal shifts. However, the persistence of the opportunistic polychaete Capitella capitata suggests localised environmental stress. Implications These findings provide critical baseline data for ecological status monitoring. Continuous tracking is essential to detect biodiversity trends and non-indigenous species arrivals in this changing ecosystem.

Levent Bat, Güley Kurt, Ayşegül Mülayim, Fatih Şahin, Ayşah Öztekin

The editor's rubric

Heuristic review

Dimension	Level	Weight	What that level means
Leverage	███░░ 3	16%	A method or resource many groups across the field will adopt within a year.
Magnitude	███░░ 3	20%	Large gain: roughly 2x, or a clear new state of the art on a hard, unsaturated problem.
Evidence	████░ 4	20%	Strong: large scale, preregistered, independently replicated, or a well-powered randomized trial.
Novelty	██░░░ 2	10%	A new combination of known ideas.
Trajectory	██░░░ 2	14%	Some room to improve with obvious engineering.
Stakes	██░░░ 2	20%	Benefits a professional community (practitioners, clinicians, engineers).

Editor’s rationale

Heuristic triage from title and abstract text only, not a reading of the paper. Cues found: breadth (many tasks); gains (state of the art); verification (multiple benchmarks).

How the score was computed

rank-2026-09-29

Score████░░░░░░4.4

Score = 10 × (75% × adjusted merit / 10 + 15% × attention + 10% × freshness)

Merit: 5.5 / 10; Weighted rubric, evidence-gated.
Adjusted merit: 4.5 / 10; Shrunk toward the desk prior by editor confidence (36%).
Attention: 0%; Citations, upvotes, points, mentions.
Freshness: 97%; Half-life decay since publication.

Citations0 (reference 15, via openalex, Sep 30, 2026, 11:05 UTC)
Field-weighted citation impact0 (reference 3, via openalex, Sep 30, 2026, 11:05 UTC)

The record

Reviewed by heuristic-v2 on Sep 30, 2026, 11:05 UTC. Paper type: empirical.
Categories: Marine Biology and Ecology Research, Marine and environmental studies, Marine and coastal plant biology, Oceanography, Earth and Planetary Sciences
BRIEF, No.2 in the Climate & Energy edition of September 30, 2026.