In this study, 33 species (ten subgenera and one indet. subgenus) of Candonidae have been taxonomically determined from the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey, These are Candona, Caspiolla, Caspiocypris, Pontoniella, Bakunella, Lineocypris, Reticulocandona, Typhlocypris, Meracandona and indet. subgenus. Five species are described as new namely: Candona (Caspiolla) ataensis, Candona (Pontoniella) turcica, Candona (Lifteoclypris) bafraensis, Candona (Caspiocypris) trabzonensis, Candona (Reticulocandona) stanchevae. Candona and its subgenera are dominant fossils in the sedimentary record of the Eastern Black Sea during the Pontian. These localities could be described as the "Candona Sea" due to this fact. The "Candona Sea" extended along the northern Anatolian coast from the Sinop Peninsula to the Trabzon (Arakli) area during the whole Pontian and contains few endemic species. On the basis of the environmental properties of Candona and the other identified Ostracoda species, this aquatic environment could have had oligohaline (0.5-5 parts per thousand) and mesohaline (5-18 parts per thousand) salinity conditions in Pontian. This "Candona Sea" was located on the southern border of Paratethys bioprovince and it has connections directly with Pontian, Euximan and Caspian Basin bioprovinces during this time interval.
