Distribution and molecular characterisation of species of the Malacostraca (Crustacea) in the Eastern Black Sea brackish waters

Abstract

The aim of the study was to identify the species of the Malacostraca distributed in the estuarine habitats of the eastern part of the Black Sea of Turkey using both morphological and molecular data. Samples were collected from 11 stations in 2019-2020. Fifteen species were found. Eleven of them were identified based on sequences of COI gene region published in the GenBank and morphological differences. These were Echinogammarus foxi, Jassa marmorata, Dexamine cf. thea, Gammarellus angulosus, Amphithoe ramon-di, Monocorophium insidiosum, Idotea balthica, Eriphia verrucosa, Pilumnus spinulosus, Pachygrapsus marmoratus and Palaemon elegans. Futher four species, i.e. Gammarus crinicornis, Lekanesphaeroma monodi, Pisidia bluteli and Tanais dulongi, were identified based on morphological data only. Due to the rapid degradation of the DNA of Malacostraca individuals and insufficient or partially incorrect informa-tion in the Genbank, genetic comparisons of some species could not be implemented. In order to solve this problem, it is discussed that species-specific primers have to be developed in future studies.