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

In this research, a preliminary study was carried out in January and February 2014 todetermine the fecundity of the whiting species in Tirebolu, Eastern Black Sea. After thetotal length (cm) and weight (0.01 g) of the 70 fish specimens were measured in thelaboratory, they were dissected for sex determination. Using the 20 ovaries at the thirdand 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 ovaryto determine the fecundity, and hydrated oocytes were counted with gravimetric method.Total fecundity, total oocytes number in the ovary were computed with the formulaF(nG)/g. The total length-weight values were 12.6-23.3 cm (mean 17.082.12) and15.59-95.72 g (mean 41.07 16.75), respectively, and total length-weight relationshipwas computed as W0.0073L3.024 (R20.94) for the 70 fishes evaluated. Fecundity wascomputed as 3.247-30.534 (mean: 10.1396.953) eggs and a linear relationship betweenfecundity and total length was calculated as F0.0186L4.5631 (R20.70). In conclusion, thefecundity results of this prelaminar study were compared with similar studies on thewhiting species from Black Sea and other seas