A preliminary study of fecundity of whiting, Merlangius merlangus euxinus (Linnaeus, 1758) in coast of Tirebolu (Eastern Black Sea)

Abstract

In this research, a preliminary study was carried out in January and February 2014 to determine the fecundity of the whiting species in Tirebolu, Eastern Black Sea. After the total length (cm) and weight (0.01 g) of the 70 fish specimens were measured in the laboratory, they were dissected for sex determination. Using the 20 ovaries at the third and fourth maturation stages, 3 sub-samples which is 2-5% of the total ovary weight (from the anterior, median and posterior parts of the ovary) were taken from each ovary to determine the fecundity, and hydrated oocytes were counted with gravimetric method. Total fecundity, total oocytes number in the ovary were computed with the formula F=(n×G)/g. The total length-weight values were 12.6-23.3 cm (mean 17.08±2.12) and 15.59-95.72 g (mean 41.07 ± 16.75), respectively, and total length-weight relationship was computed as W=0.0073L3.024 (R2=0.94) for the 70 fishes evaluated. Fecundity was computed as 3.247-30.534 (mean: 10.139±6.953) eggs and a linear relationship between fecundity and total length was calculated as F=0.0186L4.5631 (R2=0.70). In conclusion, the fecundity results of this prelaminar study were compared with similar studies on the whiting species from Black Sea and other seas.