In the Gulf of Trieste a luminescent slime often develops in the 

 late summer. The slime is yellow and ropy and adheres to objects in 

 the water. Therefore, it is not unusual to see pilings, rocks, and 

 bottoms of anchored boats luminesce yellow-green when covered by this 

 slime. The slime probably is produced by luminescent bacteria, 

 although dinoflagellates also have been suggested as the causative 

 organism. 



Little information is available concerning bioluminescence in the 

 eastern Mediterranean. Two reports indicate wintertime bioluminescence 

 due to masses of copepods in the Aegean Sea. Some rather extensive 

 sheet-type bioluminescence occurs along the Egyptian, Israeli, and 

 Lebanese coasts in July, August, and September. Seaward from the Nile 

 Delta, fishermen locate fish by the luminescence stimulated by the fish 

 swimming at this time. Bioluminescence is most frequent during this 

 period because of the large development of liiminescent plankton 

 triggered by the enormous quantities of nutrients carried seaward by 

 the flooding Wile. 



Black Sea, Sea of Azov, and Caspian Sea 



Tarasov (1956) states that luminescence can be observed through- 

 out the year in the Black Sea and that it reaches a maximum intensity 

 during the autumn months. Near Sevastopol Gonyaulax frequently causes 

 a red discoloration of the water. At night the waves are capped with 

 brilliant bioluminescence, and the s;irf gives off vivid light as it 

 breaks against the shore. In the Bay of Odessa very intense bio- 

 luminescence has been observed in the eaxly summer, probably most 

 frequently near the mouths of rivers such as the Dnieper and Dniester. 

 Noctiluca is the dominant form in the summer plankton of the Black Sea. 

 While normally a coastal form, it occurs in large concentrations in the 

 open parts of the Black Sea. The light emitted by these protozoans is 

 augmented somewhat by large numbers of luminescent ctenophores during 

 the summer. 



According to Zenkevitch (1963) the Sea of Azov is extremely pro- 

 ductive. The production reaches a maximum in the summer and early 

 autumn, and luminescent forms develop in such large concentrations 

 that they create sheet-type luminescence at this time. Sea worms also 

 develop in great numbers in the summer and create luminescence as they 

 move through concentrations of luminescent dinoflagellates. 



Bacterial bioluminescence has been reported from the northwestern 

 part of the Caspian Sea. Zhirnov (1955) reported strong luminescence 

 near Astara in July 1952. The bioluminescence was evident in the 

 water for over a week and appeared to be due to tiny organisms visibly 

 luminescing even during the daytime. The organism causing the lumin- 

 escence was not determined. 



lU 



