Growth and Reproduction of Por's Goatfish (Upeneus pori Ben-Tuvia & Golani, 1989) in İskenderun Bay, the Eastern Mediterranean

Authors: ALİ İŞMEN

Abstract: The age composition, growth parameters, spawning season, sex ratio, length at first sexual maturity and fecundity of por's goatfish (Upeneus pori) caught from the Bay of İskenderun in the eastern Mediterranean Sea were investigated. Females and males made up 52.6% and 47.4%, respectively, of the particular population of the species. The total length of females ranged from 7.0 cm to 17.0 cm, and of males from 6.6 cm to 15.1 cm. The length (L) - weight (W) relationships for males and females were estimated as W = 0.0108*L^{2.99} and W = 0.0097*L^{3.03}, respectively. The age data derived from otolith readings were used to estimate the growth parameters of the von Bertalanffy equation. The estimated parameters were: L_{\infinity} = 19.1 cm, K = 0.360 and t_o = -0.812. The maximum age was 5 for females and 4 for males. The 2-year age group was dominant in both females and males. Males and females matured at a total length of 10 cm. The monthly values of the gonadosomatic index indicated that spawning occurred mainly between May and July. The fecundity (F) - length relationship was logF = 0.733 + 3.46logL (r = 0.81).

Keywords: İskenderun Bay, Eastern Mediterranean, por's goatfish, growth, reproduction

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