Age Structure and Length-Weight Relationship for Four Species of Aphanius Nardo, 1827 (Actinopterygii: Aphaniidae) Endemic to the Lake District, Central Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract

Age structure and length-weight relationship are examined for four species of the genus Aphanius Nardo, 1827 endemic to the Lake District, Central Anatolia, Turkey: A. iconii Aksiray, 1948, A. saldae (Aksiray, 1955), A. sureyanus (Neu, 1937) and A. transgrediens (Ermin, 1946). Specimens were sampled by a shore seine net from Lake Egirdir (A. iconii), Lake Salda (A. saldae), Lake Burdur (A. sureyanus) and Lake Acigol (A. transgrediens) during 2014-2015. A total of 1246 specimens are examined (A. iconii: n=206; A. saldae: n=525; A. sureyanus: n=350; A. transgrediens: n=165). The maximum age for A. iconii, A. saldae and A. sureyanus was 4 years and for A. transgrediens was 5 years. The values of the b parameter of the length-weight equations for A.transgrediens, A. saldae, A. sureyanus and A. iconii populations are 3.027, 2.587, 3.221 and 2.713, respectively. A new maximum total length of 6.1 cm for A. transgrediens is reported.