Growth and reproduction of sandsmelt Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810 in Lake Egirdir, Isparta, Turkey

Growth and reproduction in the sandsmelt Atherina boyeri from Lake Egirdir, Turkey, are described in this paper. The proportion of male, female and sexually immature fishes in the sampled population were 48.54, 48.19 and 3.27%, respectively. The fork length, weight and age of the individuals ranged between 1.6 and 9.8 cm, 0.15 and 9.42 g and 0 and 4 years, respectively. Length-weight relationship was calculated as W=5.9 x 10(-3)FL(-3022) and the average condition factor as 0.84 +/- 0.007. The von Bertalanffy growth equation obtained was L-t = 111.6 [1-e(-0.27)((t+048))]. Growth index Phi estimated was 8.13. Gonadosomatic index values indicated that reproduction period of sandsmelt was between March and September. The average relative fecundity was calculated to be 60.61 eggs g(-1) year(-1). The relationship between length and fecundity was determined as F=0.5859*L-2.8652 (r=0.525) and between weight and fecundity was F=56.548*W-0.947 (r=0.541). The egg diameters varied from 0.20 to 1.61 mm (average 0.83 +/- 0.027 mm).