First Record of the Pompano, Trachinotus ovatus (Linnaeus, 1758), from the Southeastern Black Sea, with Molecular Characterization and Notes on Range Expansion

Abstract

Trachinotus ovatus (Linnaeus, 1758), commonly known as pompano, is a warm-water carangid native to the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic that has recently expanded northward into the Turkish Straits System and the Black Sea. Here we report the first confirmed record of T. ovatus from the southeastern Black Sea, based on a specimen caught off Trabzon coast of the Black Sea in November 2025 by a local fisherman. The specimen was morphologically identified and genetically characterized using mitochondrial COX1, Cytb, and 16S rRNA gene regions. COX1 phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses revealed two strongly divergent mitochondrial groups among sequences labeled as T. ovatus in public databases. The Black Sea specimen clustered with available Mediterranean sequences and differed by only three nucleotide substitutions, whereas Pacific sequences differed by approximately 70–79 bp, a level of mitochondrial differentiation exceeding typical intraspecific variation and consistent with recent phylogenetic studies highlighting unresolved taxonomy within Pacific Trachinotus. For Cytb, comparative sequences were available from the Atlantic and the Pacific region, but none from the Mediterranean Sea. Within this dataset, the Black Sea specimen grouped with the available Atlantic references, while Pacific sequences formed a distant and isolated branch. No reference 16S rRNA sequences of T. ovatus were available in GenBank from any geographic region, and the 16S rRNA sequence generated here therefore represents the first publicly available reference for the species. These data confirm that the Black Sea specimen originates from the Mediterranean population and likely reflects a climate-driven northward range expansion. Continued monitoring is essential to determine whether T. ovatus will establish a persistent population in the Black Sea under ongoing warming and faunal restructuring.

Keywords

• Non-native
• Extension
• Barcoding
• Phylogeny
• Black Sea

Güneydoğu Karadeniz’de Trachinotus ovatus’un (Linnaeus, 1758) İlk Kaydı: Moleküler Karakterizasyon ve Yayılımın Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Trachinotus ovatus (Linnaeus, 1758), yaygın adıyla Pompano, Akdeniz ve Doğu Atlantik’e özgü bir karangid türü olup, son yıllarda Türk Boğazları Sistemi üzerinden Karadeniz’e doğru kuzey yönlü bir yayılım göstermektedir. Bu çalışma T. ovatus’un güneydoğu Karadeniz’deki varlığına dair ilk kayıt niteliğindedir. Kasım 2025’de yerel bir balıkçı tarafından Trabzon kıyılarında yakalanan bireyin morfolojik ve genetik (COX1, 16S rRNA, Cytb) olarak T. ovatus olduğu belirlenmiştir. COX1 filogenetik ve haplotip ağı analizleri, genbank veritabanında T. ovatus olarak etiketlenen diziler arasında güçlü biçimde ayrışmış iki mitokondriyal grubun varlığını ortaya koymuştur. Karadeniz örneği, mevcut Akdeniz dizileriyle birlikte kümelenmiş ve bu dizilerden yalnızca üç nükleotid farklılık göstermiştir. Buna karşılık, Pasifik kökenli diziler yaklaşık 70–79 bç düzeyinde farklılık sergilemiş olup, bu düzeydeki mitokondriyal ayrışma tipik tür içi varyasyonun üzerinde olup Pasifik Trachinotus cinsi içerisinde çözümlenmemiş taksonomik yapıya işaret eden filogenetik çalışmalarla uyumludur. Cytb için genbank veri tabanındaki diziler Atlantik Okyanusu ve Pasifik bölgesinden elde edilen bireylere ait olup, Akdeniz’e ait herhangi bir referans dizi bulunmamaktadır. Bu veri seti içerisinde Karadeniz örneği, mevcut Atlantik referans dizileri ile birlikte gruplanırken, Pasifik dizileri uzak ve izole bir dal oluşturmuştur. Hali hazırda veritabanlarında T. ovatus’a ait 16S rRNA referans dizisi bulunmadığından dolayı bu çalışmada üretilen 16S rRNA dizisi tür için ilk referans niteliğini taşımaktadır. Tüm bulgular, Karadeniz örneğinin Akdeniz populasyonuna ait olduğunu doğrulamakta ve türün iklim değişikliğiyle ilişkili doğal bir kuzey yönlü yayılımı temsil ettiğini düşündürmektedir. Fauna değişimi ve küresel ısınma ışığında, T. ovatus’un Karadeniz’de kalıcı bir popülasyon oluşturup oluşturmayacağını belirlemek için sürekli izleme çalışmalarının yapılması elzemdir.

Keywords

• Yabancı tür
• Yayılım
• Barkodlama
• Filogeni
• Karadeniz

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