| In this study, the molecular identification of the three Mediterranean Spicara species was investigated by using the 16S rRNA gene for confirmation of the taxonomic status and also identify incorrectly classified sequences on the GenBank database. The results of the haplotype network and phylogenetic trees show three distinct Spicara haplotypes/haplogroups, corresponding to three different species. Additionally, the number of mutations and high values of sequence divergences were useful in differentiating the three different Spicara .