First find of the Black Sea turbot Scophthalmus maeoticus (Scophthalmidae) in Don River estuary

• Published in: Morskoj biologičeskij žurnal (Online) Vol. 3; no. 3
• Main Authors: D. N. Kutsyn, A. V. Startsev
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: A. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS 01.09.2018
• Subjects: first find; salinization; Scophthalmidae; Scophthalmus maeoticus; Sea of Azov; Taganrog Bay
• DOI: 10.21072/mbj.2018.03.3.07
• ISSN: 2499-9768

The aim of the work was to describe the first catch of Scophthalmus maeoticus (Pallas, 1814) in the Don River estuary (47°3′57′′N, 39°12′39′′E) and to analyze it in the context of salinity increasing in the Sea of Azov. The study was carried out using two turbot specimens caught on July 16, 2016, and on September 1, 2016, by a net with a mesh 55 mm. Assessment of the chalinic conditions of the Sea of Azov was carried out through annual monitoring at 3 hydrometeorological stations in Don River delta and in the eastern part of the Taganrog Bay. The article presents main meristic and plastic features of the turbots studied in comparison with published data. The dynamics of the salinity in the Sea of Azov and in the Taganrog Bay is analyzed. Find of the turbot in the estuary of the Don River is an evidence of ichthyocene transformation in response to salinity increasing (up to 12.5 ‰ in the Sea of Azov and up to 6 ‰ in the Taganrog Bay). The first catch of the turbot corresponds with trend of increasing of marine and brackish-water species share and with a decrease in the number of native semi-anadromous fish species.