Population Structure of European Anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus (L.) (Engraulidae: Pisces) in the Azov-Black Sea Basin

The main results of over 100-year research on the intraspecific heterogeneity of European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus (L.) in the Azov-Black Sea Basin have been presented. The analysis of taxonomic, morphobiological, biochemical, genetic and ecological intraspecific variability, as well as spatial and reproductive relationships of the Black Sea anchovy and the Azov anchovy has been carried out in the historical context. The evolutionary history of E. encrasicolus has been analyzed and the reconstruction of paleogeographic and paleoecological factors determining the formation of its population structure has been performed. The concept of the modern population structure of E. encrasicolus as the second intergradation zone resulting from the hybridization between the eastern population of the Tertiary relict – the Azov anchovy connected with the formation of the Sarmatian basin in the Miocene (23.0-5.3 million years ago) and the western population of the Black Sea anchovy linked with the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, which penetrated into the Azov-Black Sea Basin in the Postglacial period (7 − 5 thousand years ago) has been formulated.