ICAENS 2021: 1st International Conference on Applied Engineering and Natural Sciences, Konya, Turkey, 1 - 03 November 2021, pp.1063
In biometric studies, it is important to determine the growth characteristics related to the length and weight of the fish. The length-weight relationships (LWRs) are one of the most useful parameters for fishery management and have great importance in fisheries science and monitoring studies. The condition factor of fish species is important to understand their life cycles and gives valuable knowledge when comparing two populations inbabiting in different regions, climate and other conditions. This study was conducted to determine the length-weight relationships (LWR) and condition factor (K) of Transcaucasian spirlin, Alburnoides fasciatus (Nordmann, 1840), caught from two different stations (main body and Murgul branche) in Borçka reservoir between February 2017 and December 2018. Samplings were carried out by using trammel nets with various mesh sizes and pulsed DC electrofishing equipment. Sample sizes, size ranges, length–weight parameters a and b, 95% confidence intervals, standart errors and the correlation coefficient (R2) were estimated. Total length and weight ranged from 7.6-16.2 cm (mean 11.52±1.749) cm and 4.31-42.96 (meaan 9.49±1.536) g for main body of the reservoir, 7.4-13.6 (mean 9.49±1.536) cm and 4.06-28.80 (mean 10.09±5.868) g for Murgul branche. The length-weight relationships were determined as W=0.0064TL3.214 (R2=0.978, N=54) for main body of the reservoir and W=0.0057TL3.279 (R2=0.967, N=78) for Murgul branche. The growth was positive allometric (b>3) both in two stations (Pauly’s t-test, p<0.05). All correlations were highly significant (R2>0.97). Also, the condition factor (K) values varied between 0.895-1.263 (mean 1.081±0.087) for main body of the reservoir and 0.871-1.409 (mean 1.073±0.122) in Murgul branche. The condition factor values were similar between in two stations and did not differed significantly (student’s t-test, p>0.05). This study reports LWR and condition factor data for the species for the first time from the lower Çoruh river basin. The results of the study may be useful for inland fisheries management and for conservation of this species.
Keywords: Alburnoides fasciatus, L-W relationships, growth type, condition factor, lower Çoruh river basin, Borçka dam lake