Length-weight and length-length relationships of the Mediterranean shad Alosa agone (Scopoli, 1786) from the Northeastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey

Abstract

The relationships between total length (TL), fork length (FL) and standard length (SL), and between TL and weight were investigated for Mediterranenan shad, Alosa agone, from two estuary localities (Karaduvar and Samandag), North-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. A total of 297 specimens, 150 males and 147 females, were captured by gill net and trammel net between September 2006 and May 2007 from the NE Mediterranean Sea coast of Turkey. The values of the exponent b of the length-weight relationships (LWRs) were 3.50 for female and 3.49 for male. The length-length relationship (LLRs) between the three length measurements (TL-FL-SL) were highly correlated (r²>0.99, P<0.001). This study presented the first reference on LWRs and LLRs for Mediterranean shad species from NE Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

Key words: Alosa agone, Mediterranean shad, length-weight relationship, length-length relationship, NE Mediterranean Sea.