Biol. Mar. Mediterr. (2008), 15 (1): 158-159 F. FAVA, M. PONTI, M. ABBIATI Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca per le Scienze Ambientali (C.I.R.S.A.), Università di Bologna Via S. Alberto, 163 - 48100 Ravenna, Italia. massimo.ponti@unibo.it POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT PROTECTION LEVELS ON THE EPIBENTHIC ASSEMBLAGES: THE TEGNÙE OF CHIOGGIA POSSIBILI EFFETTI DI DIFFERENTI LIVELLI DI PROTEZIONE SUI POPOLAMENTI EPIBENTONICI: LE TEGNÙE DI CHIOGGIA Abstract – The effects of 3 protection levels (no fishing, no fishing+no dive, no protection) on the epibenthic assemblages of the northern Adriatic outcrops were investigated for 4 years after the establi- shment of a no-take zone. Any effects were detected. That could be due to the short time elapsed, the low effectiveness of fishing protection, and to the mooring systems which prevent anchoring damages. Key-words: outcrops, protection, sessile species, marine parks, northern Adriatic Sea. Introduction – Marine protected areas (MPA) and no-take zones (NTZ) are con- sidered the main tool for achieving marine resources conservation and protection (Fra- schetti et al., 2002), a nature-base tourism and a sustainable management of fishery (Halpern and Warner, 2002). The aim of the study is to evaluate the possible effects of different protection levels on the epibenthic assemblages living on the subtidal rocky outcrops in the northern Adriatic Sea, locally known as “Tegnùe”, inside and outside a NTZ. Materials and methods – Tegnùe are coralligenous subtidal rocky outcrops that occur in northern Adriatic Sea bed between 10 and 40 m in depth, which range in size from few to several hundreds square meters and from 1 to 4 m in height (Gabriele et al., 1999). A NTZ, permanently closed to fishing in order to protect fish stocks and natural habitats, was established offshore of Chioggia in 2002 including the most extended outcrops. Inside the NTZ mooring buoys were placed close to some outcrops to facilitate diving tourism. Since within the NTZ dives are allowed only close to the buoys, the tegnùe can be divided into 3 possible protection levels: close to fishing and dive (NFND), close to fishing but dive facilitated (NF), and outside the NTZ where there are no protection or dive facilities (NP). Four study sites were randomly chosen for each protection level. Epibenthic assemblages were annually investigated in each site in August from 2003 to 2006 using photographic sampling (Meese and Tomich, 1992). Differences in assemblage structure and species distribution between protection levels (Pr, fixed), time (Ti, fixed) and sites (Si, random, nested in Pr) were analysed by PERMANOVA and ANOVA (Anderson, 2001). Results – Outcrops appeared mainly colonised by red encrusting algae, predomi- nantly Lithophyllum stictaeforme, Lithothamnion minervae and Peyssonnelia polymor- pha. On outcrops near the coast, algal turfs were particularly abundant. Invertebrate species mainly included filter feeders. The most abundant species were the sponges Dictyonella incisa, Antho inconstans, Cliona viridis and Tedania anhelans, the zoanthar- ian Epizoanthus spp., and the ascidians Polycitor adriaticus. The analyses of the epibenthic assemblages didn’t show significant differences between the three levels of protection during the four study years (PERMANOVA PrXTi p>0.05) considering both sessile and vagile organisms, the first evaluated as percentage of covering and second as number of individuals. On the contraries, dif-