FOOD WEB
Explore the complex food web of the Black Sea. Discover native, invasive alien and threatened species and their roles in our marine ecosystem.
EXPLORE SPECIES
Native Species
Invasive Alien Species
Threatened Species
Beluga
(Huso huso)
Critically Endangered Dorsal and anal fins lack spines, with 62-73 and 28-41 soft rays, respectively. The snout is moderately pointed and slightly upturned, wit…
Danube sturgeon
(Acipenser gueldenstaedtii)
Critically Endangered Dorsal fin lacks spines, with 27-48 soft rays, while the anal fin has 16-35 soft rays. The lower lip is discontinuous at the center, with…
Starry sturgeon
(Acipenser stellatu)
Critically Endangered Dorsal fin lacks spines, with 40-46 soft rays, while the anal fin has 24-29 soft rays. The snout is long and pointed, with a discontinuous…
Common stingray
(Dasyatis pastinaca)
Vulnerable Flat head and long snout, with a rhombus-shaped body and long, whip-like tail. It has thorny tubercles on the back and a poisonous, barbed spine on t…
Piked dogfish
(Squalis acanthias)
Vulnerable A moderately sized shark with a very slender, elongated body and narrow head. It has five pairs of gill slits, two dorsal spines, no anal spine. The…
Short-beaked common dolphin
(Delphinus delphis)
Vulnerable It is a highly colourful, slender dolphin with a distinctive hourglass pattern. It has a yellow front flank, grey rear flank, black back, and white b…
Bottlenose dolphin
(Tursiops truncatus)
Endangered It is a large dolphin reaching 4 m in length, with a grey back and white underside. It has a pronounced snout, a dark stripe from the eye to the flip…
Harbour porpoise
(Phocoena phocoena)
Endangered It is a small cetacean with a short, blunt head and dark grey back. The belly is white, with a short, triangular dorsal fin and small, dark, rounded…
Anchovy
(Engraulis encrasicolus)
Native Elongated, oval-bodied fish with a pointed snout and short, blunt maxilla. It has 16-18 dorsal and 13-15 anal soft rays, with no spines. A silver stripe…
Horse mackerel
(Trachurus mediterranus)
Native Elongated, compressed body with a large head, projecting lower jaw, and well-developed adipose eyelid. The first dorsal fin has 8 spines, while the anal…
Atlantic bonito
(Sarda sarda)
Native Fusiform, oval-bodied fish with 20-23 dorsal spines and 15-18 soft rays; the anal fin has 14-17 soft rays and no spines. The swim bladder is absent, and…
Black Sea shad
(Alosa maeotica)
Native Elongated, herring-like body with a compressed, fusiform shape. It has no dorsal or anal spines, well-developed teeth in both jaws, and 8 pelvic fin rays…
Bluefish
(Pomatomus saltatrix)
Native Fusiform, compressed body with 8-9 dorsal spines and 23-28 soft rays; the anal fin has 2-3 spines and 23-27 soft rays. It has two dorsal fins, with the f…
Garfish
(Belone belone)
Native Elongated, cylindrical body with no dorsal spines, 16-20 dorsal soft rays, and 19-23 anal soft rays. Jaw teeth are large and widely spaced, with the lowe…
Red mullet
(Mullus barbatus)
Native Moderately compressed body with two short, stout barbels under the chin and a short, steep snout. The first dorsal fin has 8 spines and the second has I…
Whiting
(Merlangius merlangus)
Native Elongated, fusiform body with a small head and a small or absent chin barbel. It has 30-40 dorsal and 30-35 anal soft rays, with no spines. Colour varies…
Scorpion fish
(Scorpaena porcus)
Native Compressed body with 12 dorsal spines and 7-9 soft rays; the anal fin has 3 spines and 4-6 soft rays. Pectoral fins have 16-18 rays, with small scales ar…
Turbot
(Scophthalmus maximus)
Native Body almost circular and strongly flattened. The eye side is scaleless but has large bony tubercles. Max length: 100 cm SL, Max age:25 years
Round goby
(Neogobius melanostomus)
Native Fusiform body with 7-8 dorsal spines and 12-17 soft rays; the anal fin has 1 spine and 9-14 soft rays. It has 45-54 scales in the mid-lateral series. A l…
Tub gurnard
(Chelidonichthys lucerna)
Native Elongated body with the longest pectoral-fin ray reaching the front of the anal fin. Lateral-line scales are smooth, and the body is reddish. Max length:…
Short snouted seahorse
(Hippocampus hippocampus)
Native Small seahorse with 11 trunk rings and about 37 tail rings. It has a very short, slightly upturned snout, a prominent eye spine, and 16–19 dorsal-f…
Mussel
(Mytilus galloprovincialis)
Native The shell has no radiating ridges or small teeth below the beak. The outer shell is usually bluish-black, while the inside is dull blue. Max length: 16.5…
Flat Oyster
(Ostrea edulis)
Native It has an oval or pear-shaped, rough shell with two unequal valves. The left valve is concave and attached to the substrate, while the right valve is fla…
Barrel Jellfish
(Rhizostoma pulma)
Native Diameter about 60 cm, sometimes reaching 90 cm. The bell is strongly curved, with 80–90 marginal lobes and 8 very long oral arms. The arms have cau…
Moon Jelly
(Aurelia aurita)
Native Maximum diameter about 50 cm, with a flat bell and many short marginal tentacles. It has four oral arms and four reproductive organs. The body is usually…
Rapa whelk
(Rapana venosa)
Invasive Alien It has a short-spired, heavy shell with a large, inflated body whorl, a distinct apex, and an operculum. Its color ranges from gray to orange-bro…
Warty comb jelly
(Mnemiopsis leidyi)
Invasive Alien It is a transparent, oval-shaped ctenophore, about 7-12 cm long, with eight ciliated comb rows and two large oral lobes used for feeding. Four sm…
Blue crab
(Callinectes sapidus)
Invasive Alien It has a broad, smooth, flat carapace with nine teeth and prominent lateral spines. Its color ranges from greyish-brown to bluish-green, with pad…