Seasonal Distribution of Fish Eggs and Larvae off Sinop (the Southern Black Sea) in 1999-2000

Abstract

The seasonal distribution of fish eggs and larvae off Sinop, the central southern Black Sea, was studied by using vertical and horizontal tows at two stations at biweekly intervals between January 1999 and November 2000. Besides basic oceanographic parameters, macro gelatinous was also sampled to evaluate their relation to fish eggs and larvae. Eggs or larvae of a total 23 fish species were present in the samples. Most of the species were found to occur during spring and summer. It is observed that especially anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) eggs and larvae were highly abundant during this period. Additionally, beginning from May, the eggs and larvae of species, such as Mullus barbatus, Solea lascaris, Trachurus mediterraneus, Ctenolabrus sp., Blennidae and Gobiidae were represented in samples. In the colder period of the year, early life stages of sprat (Sprattus sprattus) were dominant in ichthyoplankton. According to overall quantitative evaluation, anchovy (87%) had superiority in abundance among egg samples and Gobius sp. (35%) among larvae samples. © 2003 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.