Length-length and length-weight relationships of the round sardinella Sardinella aurita Valenciensis, 1847 (Osteichthyes, Clupeidae) from the Aegean Sea

This study describes the length-weight (LWR) and length-length (LLR) relationships of round sardinella Sardinella aurita (Linnaeus, 1758) from Izmir Bay, Turkey. A total of 1948 specimen of S. aurita collected from fisherman’s catch with gillnets from November 2004 to October 2005 were used for this study. Fish size ranged in total length (TL, minimum) 15.0 cm for males, 14.2 cm for females and 14.2 cm for both sexes. The parameters a and b of the length-weight relationships were calculated as W=aLb and LWRs for males, females and the total sample population determined to be W=0.0033L3.279, W=0.0025L3.375 and W=0.0027L3.340 respectively. The values for allometric coefficient b of the LWRs showed positive allometric growths in the both sexes. LLRs were measured as TL=a+bFL, FL=a+bSL and SL=a+bTL equation in all sexes and combined. In all the samples together, LLRs are as follows: TL=-1.3284+1.2087FL, FL=1.4623+0.9581SL and SL=0.0000+0.8382TL. The results further indicated that LLRs were highly inter correlated (r2˃0.9, p˂0.01). Keywords: Round sardinella, Sardinella aurita, length-weight relationship, condition factor, Izmir Bay, Aegean Sea