Do we need to conserve the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) population in the Marmara Sea separately?
31th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Kobenhavn, Danimarka, 1 - 03 Mayıs 2018, ss.152, (Özet Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
- Basıldığı Şehir: Kobenhavn
- Basıldığı Ülke: Danimarka
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.152
- Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır
Özet
In the Mediterranean basin, the harbour porpoise lives mainly in the Black Sea, and is less common in Turkish Straits System (TSS, consisting of the Marmara Sea, Istanbul and Çanakkale Straits) and Aegean Sea. The Black Sea population is recognized as the subspecies Phocoena phocoena relicta distinct from the Atlantic subspecies both morphologically and genetically. It has been listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List since 2008. In previous studies, 186 individuals from the Black Sea, TSS and the Aegean Sea were analyzed in total based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence variation, and 24 haplotypes were found. In the present study, mtDNA sequences of 74 samples of the harbour porpoise collected between 1999 and 2016 in the Turkish Black Sea coast (44 western, 13 eastern), Istanbul (4), Çanakkale (1) Straits, Marmara Sea (10), and Aegean Sea (2) exhibited ten haplotypes, two of which were new. One of the new haplotypes were detected in TSS, while the other one was found in the western Black Sea coast. A unique haplotype, which was predominantly found in the Marmara Sea in previous studies, was also detected in four more individuals from the same sea, and just one individual from western Black Sea coast. Moreover, TSS population was found genetically differentiated from other populations in the Black Sea based on haplotype frequencies. These findings strengthened the possibility of a harbour porpoise subpopulation in the Marmara Sea, which is under heavy anthropogenic stress due to bycatch, intense shipping traffic, overfishing, and pollution. Although there is no estimate for the abundance of the harbour porpoises in the TSS, it may require a unique conservation plan considering the above mentioned threats. More samples will be sequenced with the same mtDNA marker, as well as with RAD-sequencing in the context of an ongoing project, CetaGen.