Length-weight and length-length relationships of Chlorophthalmus agassizi Bonaparte, 1840 in İskenderun Bay, Türkiye

Abstract

The present study was carried out to gain some knowledge on length-weight, length-length relationships and some growth parameters of male and female individuals of Chlorophthalmus agassizi. The knowledge of the length-weight relationship has numerous practical applications in fishery biology and is needed in fishery management and conservation. Length-weight and length-length regression equations were estimated for male and female C. agassizi caught from the İskenderun Bay, the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Regression coefficients were estimated by using the logarithms of the total lengths and the corresponding weights. The curvilinear relationships of length-weight for all individuals, male and female were given as W =0.0117 L355, W=0.0013*L3.65, and W=0.0025*L342, respectively. The estimated values of parameter b ranged from 3.42 to 3.65. The r² was estimated as 0.94, indicating a high degree of the positive relationship between the length and weight of the population in the İskenderun Bay. Additionally, the relationships among total length, standard length, fork length were also estimated for all specimens. The length-length relationships were determined to show highly correlated (r>0.96) and statistically significant. Condition factor (CF) is used for comparing the fish's health or the fatness of the fish. In this study, the mean values of Fulton's CF were in the ranges of 0.673. to 0.736 for C. agassizi population. Therefore, these data will be a precious background for further biological studies and local fisheries managements in İskenderun Bay.