Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turkish Journal of Zoology, cilt.48, sa.2, ss.104-112, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
To understand the ecosystem health of the Sea of Marmara following the dense mucilage event in 2021, growth indicators (length-weight relationships and condition factors) of coastal fish species were investigated. For this purpose, individuals were sampled during experimental fishing trials with beach seine nets between November 2021 and March 2022 from the Sea of Marmara, Türkiye. A total of 32 fish species belonging to 19 families were obtained. A total of 12 juvenile and 20 small-sized adult coastal fish species were identified, and condition factors and length-weight relationships (LWRs) were calculated. The LWR results of this study reveal the first findings as Gasterosteus aculeatus for Mediterranean marine waters, as Umbrina cirrosa for Turkish waters, and as Pomatoschistus marmoratus and Pomatoschistus minutus for the Sea of Marmara. The b value of 17 species ranged between 2.586 and 3.566, all distributed within the expected range (2.5 and 3.5) for healthy stocks. In addition, the CF values were found slightly lower from the results of the previous studies. These differences may be a result of abnormal environmental conditions which cause mucilage to form and/or address varied life phases (juvenile/adult) of this study and compared previous studies. To better understand, multidisciplinary studies should be conducted that include case history as well as back-calculated predictions, as in this study.