Long-term Variations in the Black Sea Population of Smooth Scallop, Flexopecten glaber (Linnaeus, 1758) (Bivalvia: Pectinidae): A Review

Abstract

Data on the presence and characteristics of smooth scallop Flexopecten glaber (Linnaeus, 1758) aggregations in various parts of the Black Sea shelf (BSS) have been subjected to a retrospective analysis. The waters of the northern (Crimean coast), eastern (Central and North Caucasian), and Anatolian sectors of BSS can be considered the most favorable habitats for smooth scallop, where massive beds of this species were found in the first half of the 20th century. However, no such data are available for the northwestern and western BSS, where freshwater discharges from the Danube, Dniester, and Dnieper form a permanent zone of lower water salinity. The period of decline in the Black Sea scallop population recorded in the 1970s–1990s generally coincided with the well known ecological crisis due to the anthropogenic eutrophication of the Black Sea in the second half of the 20th century. In the late 2000s and the 2010s, the scallop beds in the Crimean BSS showed a tendency to recover, which may be associated with the general improvement of the ecological condition of the Black Sea basin. A similar recovery of scallop beds is expected to occur in the eastern (North and Central Caucasian) and southern BSS, but has not yet been recorded. The results obtained suggest a possibility of downgrading the conservation status of this species in the Red Data Books of the City of Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea from the `species declining in abundance` to the `species recovering in abundance and distribution`.