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UN SDG
Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2017, Vol 17, Num, 4     (Pages: 725-733)

Spatio-temporal Patterns of Abundance, Biomass and Length of the Silvercheeked Toadfish Lagocephalus sceleratus in the Gulf of Antalya, Turkey (Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

Elif Özgür Özbek 1 ,Mine Çardak 2 ,Turhan Kebapçioğlu 3

1 Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TUDAV), P.O. Box: 10, Beykoz, Istanbul, Turkey
2 Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Marine Sciences and Technology, 17100, 10 Çanakkale, Turkey
3 İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Faculty of Fisheries, Çiğli Ana Yerleşkesi, 35620, İzmir, 12 Turkey
DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v17_4_08 Viewed : 4276 - Downloaded : 3093 The variations in abundance, biomass and length frequency of 811 individuals of Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) according to the seasons, locations, and depth levels in the Gulf of Antalya were reported in this study. L. sceleratus was sampled from 61 of 116 hauls of commercial bottom trawl that were realized seasonally between August 2009 and April 2010, at six locations and at six depth levels (25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200 m). The frequency of occurrence was 56.48% at the depths between 25 and 150 m, but the fish were absent at 200 m. The overall mean abundance was calculated as 136.21 ind./km2 (11.67 ind./h) and biomass as 15.73 kg/km2 (1.37 kg/h). The total length (TL) ranged from 11 to 50 cm, and the mean TL was calculated as 19.99 cm. According to the available data, this is the widest depth range of L. sceleratus and the deepest record of the species in the Mediterranean Sea. Keywords : Tetraodontidae, puffer fish, Lessepsian migration, trawl, spatio-temporal distribution