Deep water observations of Lophius piscatorius in the north‐eastern Atlantic Ocean by means of a remotely operated vehicle

To determine whether the current classification of the flathead trout Salmo (Platysalmo) platycephalus , endemic to the upper reaches of the Zamanti River system, Turkey, based solely on morphology, is in congruence with molecular phylogeny, the nucleotide sequence variation in mitochondrial (control region and cytochrome b gene) and nuclear (internal transcribed spacer of rRNA genes) DNA for the flathead trout and various representatives of the genus Salmo was studied. On the basis of pair‐wise genetic distance estimates, the highest differences were found to exist between the flathead trout and S. salar , S. ohridana and S. obtusirostris , whereas the differences between the flathead trout and S. trutta were minimal. All the analyses performed firmly positioned the flathead trout within the Adriatic phylogeographic lineage of S. trutta ; however, the exact position of the flathead trout within the Adriatic cluster was irresolvable. Accordingly, classifying the flathead trout as a subgenus of Salmo is unjustifiable and its reclassification in a lower taxonomic category is suggested by the present study.