Weight-length relationships for 50 selected fish species of the Algarve coast (southern Portugal)

This study reports weight-length relationships for 50 selected fish species of the Algarve coast (southern Portugal). Specimens were caught during fishing surveys with different types of fishing gears (trawls, nets, long-lines and traps) or sampled during whole fish market sampling operations. A total of 22 825 individuals were sampled, belonging to 50 fish species from 25 families. The best represented was family Sparidae (13 species), distantly followed by Scombridae and Triglidae (four species), Carangidae (three species), and by Gadidae, Haemulidae, Scyliorhinidae, Serranidae and Soleidae (two species). In numerical terms, the most important species were Trachinus draco and Diplodus bellottii, with 2767 and 2144 individuals, respectively, followed by Citharus linguatula (1844), D. vulgaris (1206), Microchirus azevia (1165), Scorpaena notata (1118) and Pagellus erythrynus (1075). To the author's best knowledge, this study presents the first references on weight-length relationships for six fish species worldwide, for 15 species for the northeastern Atlantic, for 20 species for Portuguese waters and for 25 species for the Algarve coast (southern Portugal). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.