Preliminary checklist of ichthyofauna and marine mammals of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s coastal waters: A baseline for conservation, monitoring, and one health approaches

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (B&H) limited coastal zone alongthe Adriatic Sea represents a unique and understudied marineecosystem. This study presents the first structured preliminaryinventory of marine fish and mammal species in the country’sterritorial waters, compiling 110 species (106 fish, 4 marinemammals) from historical records, grey literature, and localknowledge sources. Using a standardized Observation QualityIndex (OQI), species were categorized into high, medium, orlow confidence tiers based on data quality criteria. The checklistidentified 21 bony fish and three marine mammals with highconfidencepresence, while most elasmobranchs (13 species) andbony fish (69 species) fell into the medium-confidence category,reflecting regional data scarcity and underreporting. The findingsoffer a critical biodiversity baseline for future research, marineconservation, and environmental management in the region.Moreover, the study highlights the value of integrating dataquality assessment and the One Health approach, recognizingthe interconnectedness of marine ecosystem health, biodiversityconservation, and human well-being. This inventory supportsnational and regional efforts to meet international biodiversitymonitoring commitments and underscores the need forcontinued marine research and cross-border collaboration in theAdriatic Sea.