Length-Weight Relationships for Three Deep Sea Fish Species in North Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey

Abstract

In the present study, length–weight relationships (LWRs) were estimated for three deep sea fish species, namely, Nettastoma melanura Rafinesque, 1810; Lampanyctus crocodilus (Risso, 1810); and Chauliodus sloani Bloch & Schneider, 1801 in the north-eastern Mediterranean Sea. A total of 102 fish samples were collected from Mersin Bay (Erdemli coast). Their length–weight relationship b values ranged between 2.458 and 3.496, and all regressions were found to be significant for all three species (p<0.001). This study is the first reference on length–weight relationships for these three deep-sea fish species from the North-eastern Mediterranean Sea coast of Turkey. Besides, Length–weight relationships for C. sloani and L. crocodilus were not yet available in Fishbase for the Eastern Mediterranean, and hence these results obtained from this study will be useful to researchers and fisheries biologists in the field.

Keywords

• Deep sea fishes,Length-weight parameters,Blackfin sorcerer,Jewel lanternfish,Sloane's viperfish,Mersin Bay

References

1. Bagenal, T. B. & Tesch, F. W. (1978). Methods for assessment of Fish Production in Fresh Waters, (3rd ed.). IBP Handbook No. 3. In T. Bagenal (Ed.)., (pp 101-136). London: Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
2. Beverton, R. J. H. & Holt, S. J. (1986). On the dynamics of exploited fish populations. London: Chapman and Hall.
3. Bílge, G., Yapici, S., Fíliíz, H. and Cerím, H. (2014). Weight-length relationshions for 103 fish species from the southern Aegean sea, Turkey. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 44(3), 263-269. [CrossRef]
4. Deval, M. C., Güven, O. Saygu, I. & Kabapçioğlu, T. (2014). Length-weight relationships of 10 fish species found off Antalya Bay, eastern Mediterranean. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 30(3), 567-568. [CrossRef]
5. Froese, R. (2006). Cube law, condition factor and weight-length relationships: history, meta-analysis and recommendations. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 22(4), 241-253. [CrossRef]
6. Froese, R. (1998). Length-weight relationships for 18 less-studied fish species. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 14, 117-118. [CrossRef]
7. Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (2019). Fishbase. Worldwide Web Electronic Publication. Retrieved from http://www.fishbase.org (accessed 27.12.2019).
8. Frost, W. E. (1945). The age and growth of eels (Anguilla anguilla) from the Windermere catchment area. Part 2. Journal of Animal Ecology, 14, 106-l24. [CrossRef]

9. Garcia, C. B., Buarte, J. O., Sandoval, N., Von Schiller, D. & Mello, N. P. (1989). Length-weight relationships of demersal fishes from the Gulf of Salamanca, Colombia. Fishbyte, 21, 30-32.
10. Koutrakis, E. T. & Tsikliras, A. C. (2003). Length-weight relationships of fishes from three northern Aegean estuarine systems (Greece). Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 19, 258-260. [CrossRef]
11. Merella, P., Quetglas, A., Alemany, F. & Carbonell, A. (1997). Lengthweight relationship of fishes and cephalopods from the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean). Naga, the ICLARM Quarterly, 20(3/4), 66-68.
12. Pauly, D. (1993). Fishbyte section editorial. Naga, the ICLARM Quarterly, 16, 26.
13. Porcu, C., Follesa, M. C., Gastoni, A., Mulas, A., Pedoni, C. & Cau, A. (2013). The reproductive cycle of a deep-sea eel,  Nettastoma melanurum  (Nettastomatidae: Anguilliformes) from the southeastern Sardinian Sea (central-western Mediterranean). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 93(4), 1105-1115. [CrossRef]
14. Ricker, W. E. (1975). Computation and interpretation of biological statistics of fish populations. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin, 191, 1-400.
15. Tesch, F. W. (1971). Age and growth. In: W. E. Ricker (Ed.), Methods for assessment of fish production in fresh waters (pp 99-130). Oxford, Blackwell Scientific Publications.
16. Whitehead P. J. P., Bauchot M. L., Hureau J. C., Nielsen J., & Tortonese E. (Eds.) (1986). Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Vols. I-III, UNESCO, Paris 1473 pp. ISBN: 92-3002215-2.