Distinctive features of species of Spicara genus in Sevastopol coastal area

Abstract

Based on the results of long-term observations of the species composition of the ichthyofauna in the coastal waters near the city of Sevastopol (Black Sea), we noted the occurrence of Mediterranean species Spicara maena from 2010, mainly in the Balaklavskaya bay. The frequency of blotched picarel, Spicara maena L. 1758 in catches of Sevastopol fishermen made it possible to carry out a detailed analysis of two species of the Spicara genus to identify differences in values of morphophysiological and morphometric parameters for Spicara flexuosa and Spicara maena in the period 2016 – 2018. The findings can be regarded as sound evidence of the existence of two species of the genus Spicara - S. flexuosa and S. maena - in Sevastopol coastal waters since such characteristics as the maximum body height and body height at the end of gill cover, the length of the segment between lower jaw apex and starting point of the base of the first pectoral and first dorsal fins, the length of the anal and dorsal fins, the number of rays in the dorsal fin differ significantly for these two species. The ratio of the height of fish head to its length, which is one of diagnostic signs used to differentiate species, also differs significantly for S. flexuosa and S. maena. In addition, during periods of rest, hepatosomatic and gonadosomatic indexes for the high body pickerel are noticeably higher than those for the blotched picarel.

Keywords

• Spicara flexuosa,Spicara maena,Black Sea,Sevastopol

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