Numerous planktonic species have disjunct distribution patterns in the world's oceans. However, it is unclear whether these are truly unconnected by gene flow, or whether they are composed of morphologically cryptic species. The marine planktonic chaetognath Sagitta setosa Müller has a discontinuous geographic distribution over the continental shelf in the northeastern Atlantic, Mediterranean S...

The ctenophore Bolinopsis vitrea is first reported from the Turkish and Bulgarian regions of the Black Sea. In Turkish waters, a considerable aggregation was found in Sile on the Asian side and at Kilyos on the European side in 2007. This appears to be the first record of this species in the Black Sea, which is known in the Mediterranean Sea including the Aegean Sea. Bolinopsis vitrea most like...

Concentration and electrophoretic properties of blood serum albumin of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus caught in Black Sea and Azov Sea were studied in relation to age, sex, maturation stage and season. Electrophoretic mobility of serum albumin in Black Sea fish increased with age, while in Azov Sea goby it varied less. No differences were observed in albumin characteristics between femal...

The lucrative and highly migratory Atlantic bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus 1758; Scombridae), used to be distributed widely throughout the north Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. Its migrations have supported sustainable fisheries and impacted local cultures since antiquity, but its biogeographic range has contracted since the 1950s. Most recently, the species disappeare...

The relationships between total mercury (Hg) concentration and stable nitrogen isotope ratio (delta(15)N) were evaluated in Mullus barbatus barbatus and M. surmuletus from the Mediterranean Sea and M. barbatus ponticus from the Black Sea. Mercury concentration in fish muscle was six times higher in the two Mediterranean species than in the Black Sea one for similar sized animals. A positive cor...

Concentration of blood serum albumin of the round goby Neogobius melanostomus caught in Black Sea and Azov Sea was studied in relation to age, sex, maturation and season. Albumin concentration in fish from Azove Sea was 3-fold higher than in the animals from Black Sea. Albumin level in fish serum depended on fish physiological status, maturation, age, season and geographical location. The varia...

Black Sea receives 1,125,839 tons of organic matter, 575,000 tons mineral nitrogen, 55,000 tons mineral phosphorus, 30,000 tons organic phosphorus, 90,000 tons iron, 206,000 tons petroleum and petroleum products, 48,000 tons surfactant, 12,000 tons zinc, 67,000 tons manganese, 4,500 tons lead, 2,800 tons copper, 900 tons cadmium and 80 tons of mercury in a year from land based sources. All thes...

The increasing necessity of scientific evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of MPAs, as well as acknowledging them, is of relevance for marine policies. This is especially important at the regional level, such as for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. However, since a previous work carried out in 2000, no study has analyzed the most recent findings, or performed a comparative review of the s...

An operational model for the prediction of circulation and transport of oil spill in the Black Sea is presented. The hydrodynamic block is developed on the basis of the DieCAST high-resolution low-dissipative model adapted to the Black Sea. The oil spill transport block is constructed on the basis of the random walk approach, which allows predicting motion of individual particles, the assembly ...

The objectives of the present study were to compare growth performance and feed conversion ratios of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and Black Sea trout (Salmo trutta labrax) in monoculture and duo-culture tank reared conditions. The fish were about 9-month-old hatchery reared brook trout and Black Sea trout with initial weights of 24.18±0.64 (n=60) and 23.87±1.11 (n=60) g, respectively. Fi...