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Underwater visual census (UVC) is a commonly used approach for assessing fish density and biomass. Iskenderun Bay, comprising the Samandağ coast in Turkey, is the most important introduction pathway of alien species in the northeastern Mediterranean. In this study, the density, abundance, distribution and interaction of invasive lionfish or devil firefish Pterois miles were assessed using the UVC method on the Samandağ coast. The total transect area monitored on the Samandağ coast was 4.500 m2. Species richness, Shannon’s diversity index and rate of biomass were 25, 1.81 and 73.5 m2, respectively. Reduced diversity was observed with increasing depths. The sandy seafloor was a limiting factor for lionfish distribution. There was a significant positive correlation between lionfish total density and both the Shannon diversity index (r = 0.99, P

Stomach content analysis of fish not only helps document their food spectrum but also provides an overview of the food network they are involved in. In this study, we aimed to investigate the food composition of L. guentheri from the Iskenderun Bay, northeastern Mediterranean Sea. Specimens were collected between January 2022 and August 2022. A total of 215 L. guentheri specimens stomachs were examined during the study for stomach content analysis. All stomachs were analyzed, 60 (27.9%) were empty and 155 (72.1%) contained food items. Analysis of diet composition showed that the species is carnivorous and prey on teleosts, crustaceans, bivalves and cephalopods. When the food composition of the samples is analyzed numerically, teleost was the most important prey (68%), followed by crustaceans (14%), bivalves (5%), cephalopods (0.5%) and unidentifiable materials (12.5%). Bony fish species such as Plotosus lineatus, Parupeneus forsskali, Saurida lessepsianus, Scorpaena sp. and Siganus sp. were identified in the food composition. Therefore, it is thought that this species has a high feeding tendency towards bony fish species. This study increases the knowledge about the food composition of L. guentheri on the Mediterranean coast of Türkiye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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One specimen of Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegelii Hilgendorf, 1880 was caught by using a fish net at a depth of 7 m on 14 May 2022 from Akçakoca, Düzce in the Black Sea. In this study, the Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegelii from the Black Sea coast of Türkiye is reported for the first time with both morphologic and genetic evidence. S. schlegelii is characterised by 5 spines on the preoperculum and 2 spines on the operculum. Genetic analyses using mtDNA COI gene region also confirmed the species as Sebastes schlegelii. This species is thought to have been transported to the Black Sea from other seas of the world, probably via ballast waters or aquarium escape. The most important reason for this is that the species has not been detected in the Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first morphologic and genetic documentation of the short-beaked garfish Belone svetovidovi Collette & Parin, 1970 from the coast of the Marmara Sea (Yalova) and Black Sea (Akcakoca) is reported in the present study. The morphological characters and genetic (mtDNA COI) analyses confirmed the existence of this species both in the Marmara and Black Seas. B. svetovidovi is genetically distinct from the anther species of this genus Belone belone. All morphologic measurements, counts, and colour descriptions of B. svetovidovi agree with its previous descriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

parus aurata is a very important fish, in fisheries and aquaculture. In this study, the genetic impact of cultured gilthead sea bream S. aurata was examined on wild stocks in the Iskenderun Bay (Northeastern Mediterranean) by genetic and morphological analyzes. Morphometric traits of gilthead sea bream were investigated using a traditional set of measurements and network system. In total, 91 morphometric characters were measured for the Biomorph v3 of measurements and 14 for the truss network system. Results of discriminant function analysis (DF), three functions were produced, and the first two discriminant functions (DFs) explained 90.1% of between-group variability and plotting DF1 (55.2%) and DF2 (34.8%). Mitochondrial DNA sequencing of 16S rRNA region was found to be 830 base pair and 21 bp variable and 3 bp parsimony informative sites between populations. The nucleotide composition was found to be 21.1%, 24.1%, 32.9% and 21.1% for T, C, A and G, respectively. The average value of genetic diversity and genetic distance within populations was found to be 0.00316 and -0.00088, respectively. Haplotype diversity of the cultured population was found to be 0.6710 while the wild population was found to be 0.8333. In the present study, the morphological and molecular analysis identified cultured fish escapees in the wild data set sampled in the aquaculture sites. Despite a mixed gene pool in the wild population, as a result of a long-term culture period of fish originating from Mediterranean broodstocks, the molecular genetics tools identified potential cultured escapees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a controversy whether Fistularia petimba or F. commersonii are same species or distinct, since it is difficult to distinguish them based on morphological characters. In the present study, the COI and Cyt b gene regions of the mitochondrial DNA were used to address this question as well as to clarify the presence F. petimba. Based on the results, genetic distance between F. petimba and F. commersonii based on COI and Cyt b sequences were found to be 0.9536 and 0.95500, respectively. Average genetic diversity between species based on COI and Cyt b were found to be 0.00487, 0.04651 respectively. According to the results, F. petimba and F. commersonii are found genetically distinct from each other. The occurrence of red cornetfish F. petimba from Turkey marine waters was also confirmed showing its rapid range expansion to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]