Existence of Belone svetovidovi Collette & Parin, 1970 (Family: Belonidae) in the Marmara Sea and Black Sea Coasts of Türkiye

The first morphologic and genetic documentation of the short-beaked garfish Belone svetovidovi Collette & Parin, 1970 from the coast of the Marmara Sea (Yalova) and Black Sea (Akcakoca) is reported in the present study. The morphological characters and genetic (mtDNA COI) analyses confirmed the existence of this species both in the Marmara and Black Seas. B. svetovidovi is genetically distinct from the anther species of this genus Belone belone. All morphologic measurements, counts, and colour descriptions of B. svetovidovi agree with its previous descriptions.