GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS AND REPRODUCTION OF COMBER, SERRANUS CABRILLA (ACTINOPTERYGII, PERCIFORMES, SERRANIDAE), IN THE AEGEAN SEA

Background. Even though Serranus cabrilla has been a by-catch species in trawling operations, it is now becoming an economically important fish species on the Turkish Coast of Aegean Sea, because of its low market price. For an efficient fisheries management of the stocks it is important to know important biological parameters of the commercially exploited species. Therefore the aim of this study was to obtain necessary growth-and reproductive characteristics of comber representing the local population of this fish in the study area. Materials and Methods. Biological aspects of comber were examined based on a total of 1452 specimens collected from the Aegean Sea, during the period January 2005-December 2005. Age of fish was determined by otolith reading. Length-weight relation and the von Bertalanffy equation were used to evaluate the fish growth. Results. Annuli on otoliths indicated the presence of 6 age classes. The computed growth parameters were: L-infinity= 23.88 cm; k = 0.298 year(-1) and t(o)=-1.577 year. The length-weight relations were calculated as: W= 0.0111 . L-2.998 for sex combined. The growth performance index (Phi ') was 2.230. The fish mature sexually for the first time at a total length of 13.20 cm (L-50). The spawning season of comber was from March to May, with a peak in April. Conclusion. The comber grows rapidly attaining almost 75% of its linear growth during the first two years of life and then the growth slows down. The growth coefficient, (k), indicates slow attainment of maximum size because of significantly correlated to temperature of sea water, leading to a considerable variability in the life span between areas.