Black Sea ichthyoplankton data from the 'BRIDGE-BS-DEKOSIM Jun 2023' cruise performed in June 2023

The dataset contains data from samples collected in June 2023 onboard of R/V Bilim-2, at different stations located in Turkish EEZ of Black Sea. The sampling was performed within the BRIDGE-BS project (EU H2020, grant agreement No 101000240). Ichthyoplankton samples were collected by towing a WP-2 net with a 200 µm mesh size and a 57 cm mouth diameter. Lead pieces were attached to the collector to minimize the displacement of the net with the currents. On windy days, the vessel drifted from the point where the net was lowered down. In both cases, the wire angle was calculated and the length of the wire was corrected to collect the whole water column. Hauls were made with a speed of 1 m/s to minimize the spilling out of the water. For the nearshore stations, the net was towed vertically from 4-5 m above the bottom to the surface. For the offshore stations, the net was towed from the start of an anoxic layer (sigma-t, 16.2 kg/m3). The gelatinous organisms were sorted from the sample in the plankton net. After sorted geletinous organism, samples were fixed with 5% borax-buffered formaldehyde in 250 ml bottles. In the Institute laboratory, fish eggs and larvae were sorted and counted with the help of Olympus SZ6-SZX12 stereoscopic microscopes. Identification of fish larvae based on morphometric and meristic characters was done at the lowest possible taxonomic level, according to Leis and Carson-Ewart (2000), Demir (1957, 1958, 1959, 1969), Mater ve Çoker (2002), Russell (1976), Rodriguez et al.(2017) and Vodyanitsky-Kazanova(1954). The data file is in OBIS format.