The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester. Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe.
The Sea of Azov is an inland shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow Strait of Kerch, and is sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Russia on the east, and by Ukraine on the northwest and southwest, currently under Russian occupation. It is an important access route for Central Asia, from the Caspian Sea via the Volga–Don Canal.
The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) to 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) wide and up to 18 metres (59 ft) deep. The most important harbor, the Crimean city of Kerch, gives its name to the strait, formerly known as the Cimmerian Bosporus. It has also been called the Straits of Yenikale after the Yeni-Kale fortress in Kerch.
Snake Island, also known as Serpent Island, White Island, Island of Achilles or Zmiinyi Island, is a Ukrainian island located in the Black Sea, near the Danube Delta, with an important role in delimiting Ukrainian territorial waters.
Pleuronectidae, also known as righteye flounders, are a family of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left sides, with both eyes on their right sides. The Paralichthyidae are the opposite, with their eyes on the left side. A small number of species in Pleuronectidae can also have their eyes on the left side, notably the members of the genus Platichthys.
The monkey goby is a species of goby native to the basins of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important river, it was once a frontier of the Roman Empire. In the 21st century, it connects ten European countries, running through their territories or marking a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for 2,850 km (1,770 mi), passing through or bordering Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine. Among the many cities on the river are four national capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. Its drainage basin amounts to 817,000 km² and extends into nine more countries.
The Pacific sand sole, also known as simply sand sole, is a flatfish species inhabiting the northeastern Pacific waters where it lives on sandy bottoms. The only species in the genus, Psettichthys, it ranges from the Bering Sea to Northern California.
Arhythmacanthidae is a family of parasitic worms from the order Echinorhynchida.
The Black Sea Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve of Ukraine that is located at littoral zone of the northern Black Sea coast covering regions of the Kherson and Mykolaiv Oblasts and including Gulf of Tendra and Yahorlyk Bay. The reserve is part of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Pegusa is a genus of soles native to the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea.
The sand sole is a fish species in the family Soleidae. It is a marine, subtropical, demersal fish up to 40 centimetres (16 in) long.
Acropora nasuta is a species of branching stony coral in the family Acroporidae. It is native to the western and central Indo-Pacific where it is found in shallow reef habitats. Like other corals of the genus Acropora, it is susceptible to coral bleaching and coral diseases and the IUCN has listed it as being "Near Threatened".
The Egyptian sole is a species of flatfish in the true sole family, Soleidae. It lives on the sandy or muddy seabed of the Mediterranean Sea, and is now colonising the Red Sea. It often semi-immerses itself in the substrate. The upper side is greyish-brown while the underside is white. It grows to a maximum length of about 70 cm (28 in). This fish is used for human consumption and is prized as a food fish. It is caught mostly by trawling on the seabed.
Hemibdella soleae is a marine species of leech in the family Piscicolidae and the type taxon of its genus. Found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, it is a parasite of flatfish such as the common sole.
Laskaris Kananos was a 15th-century Greek traveler to northern Europe who left an account in Medieval Greek of his travels.
