Spatial Distribution and Genetic Diversity of Turbot ( Scophthalmus maximus , Linnaeus, 1758) in Bulgarian Black Sea Waters Relative to Fishing Pressure and Their Abiotic Environment

The present study examined the genetic diversity and spatial distribution of turbot ( Scophthalmus maximus ), an economically important species on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling software Version 3.4.4. was utilized to develop a habitat suitability model for S. maxim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Main Authors: Ivelina Zlateva, Petya Ivanova, Nina Dzhembekova, Valentina Doncheva, Ivan Popov, Violeta Slabakova, Yordan Raev, Violin Raykov, Dimitar Dimitrov
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023
Subjects:
Black Sea
fishing pressure
genetic diversity
habitat suitability
MaxEnt
spatial distribution
Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering
VM1-989
Oceanography
GC1-1581
Scophthalmus maximus
Turbot
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11101982
https://doaj.org/article/8764f5d490774191a16a8e7e5879c77e
Description
Summary:The present study examined the genetic diversity and spatial distribution of turbot ( Scophthalmus maximus ), an economically important species on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling software Version 3.4.4. was utilized to develop a habitat suitability model for S. maximus in the Bulgarian Black Sea region. Data collected via demersal and pelagic surveys and genetic sampling from 2017 to 2021 were utilized to link species occurrence localities with selected abiotic factors. Our findings showed that the species’ habitat preferences are strongly influenced by temperature and dissolved oxygen, and projections based on simplified climatic scenarios indicated potential distribution shifts and a substantial reduction in reproduction habitats in the northern region. The assessment of genetic diversity was based on mtDNA COIII sequencing; MtDNA revealed a low level of polymorphism in all analyzed populations. The extensive fishing pressure may have increased the likelihood of genetic and population bottlenecks and a consequent decline in genetic diversity in the Shabla, Nesebar, and Tsarevo populations. The Tajima’s D values for the latter indicated that turbot underwent a bottleneck followed by rapid population expansion. Our findings are essential for the conservation and effective management of S. maximus stocks in the region.

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