Prebosphoric occurrence of Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii Hilgendorf, 1880 in southwestern Black Sea with notes on its morphometry and dispersal potential

Abstract

On 21 December 2023 one specimen of Sebastes schlegelii Hilgendorf, 1880 have been captured by means of a commercial bottom trawler towed at a depth of 30 m off Şile coast. Following its first occurrence in Turkish Black Sea waters off Giresun coast on 6 March 2023, it has recently reported from the Sea of Marmara (Gulf of İzmit) on 7 January 2024, exhibiting a noteworthy dispersal speed which required less than one year to migrate across nearly a 1,000 km. Therefore, the dispersal and potential interactions with indigenous species of this invasive teleostean along theTurkish coast should be monitored carefully. In the present article, authors provide full morphometric and meristic characters of S. schlegelii, as well.