EXOTIC FISH SPECIES OFF THE BLACK SEA COAST OF THE KRASNODAR TERRITORY

Abstract

. Each species strives to expand its range and spreads in all directions. Its expansion occurs in the direction where biological and abiotic factors are similar to its native habitat. Entering the area with different conditions activates the mechanism of adaptation to new conditions. If such an adaptation is successful, the range of this species expands in this direction, otherwise this area remains unclaimed. Possible migration routes of exotic species run along the coast of Turkey through the coast of the Republic of Georgia or along the coasts of Bulgaria, Romania and the Crimean Peninsula. Taking into account the existing system of currents in the sea, the most likely option seems to be their invasion into the Russian sector of the Black Sea as a result of migration from the Sea of Marmara through the Bosphorus Strait and further along the direction of the Anatolian and Caucasian currents. Another way is with ballast water. In 1995–2014, 7 monitoring stations under the authority of AzNIIRKH operated near the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory on a year-round basis. They were equipped with all the necessary types of fishing gear (set nets with a mesh size from 25 to 200 mm, bottom set nets with a minimum mesh size of 6.5 and 10 mm, cast nets with 30 mm mesh, etc.). AzNIIRKH-trained observers were present at each haul of the fishing gear and conducted the necessary catch analyses. All unusual species were preserved by freezing or taxidermy and transferred to the institute. As a result of the operation of AzNIIRKH monitoring stations, in the catches of commercial fishing gear off the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory in 2005 and 2012, two exotic species have been recorded: Siganus luridus (Rüppell, 1828) and Lophius piscatorius Linnaeus, 1758.