Age, growth and food composition ofScorpaena porcus(Linnaeus, 1758) in the southeastern Black Sea

Abstract

Samples of 525 Scorpaena porcus (Linnaeus, 1758) were collected from the southeastern Black Sea between January 2002 and May 2003 for information on age, growth, lengthweight relationships and stomach contents. Total length of sampled fish ranged from 4.6 to 22.9 cm and total weight from 1.3 to 220 g. The sex ratio (1 : 1.61) was biased toward females (P < 0.05). Positive allometric growth was determined in the collected samples. The length-weight relationship for all individuals was described by the parameters a = 0.0149 and b = 3.09, with r 2 = 0.99. The sample was composed of five age-classes (0-7 years). Three growth models were used to identify the growth characteristics: von Bertalanffy, L t ¼ L inf ½1 À expðÀkðt À t 0 ÞÞ; logistic, L t ¼ L inf =½1 þ ððL a À L 0 Þ=L 0 Þ½expðÀrtÞ; and Schnute and Richards, L t ¼ L inf ½1 þ aexpðÀat c Þ ðÀ1=bÞ . Among these, the Schnute and Richards model was best fitted to the data as L t ¼ 21:34½1 þ 2:38expðÀ0:34t 1:58 Þ ðÀ1=0:99Þ The diet was composed of Carcinus mediterraneus (18.2%), Crangon crangon (12.1%), unidentified crab species (10.6%), Gobius sp. (4.6%), Palaemon sp. (4.5%), Macropipus sp. (4.5%), Engraulis encrasicholus (1.5%), Gastropoda (1.5%), and unidentified remains (34.9%).

Trophic relationships among scorpaeniform fishes associated with gas platforms

“…This might indicate that the results were possibly biased by the sampling gear used: in fact, European anchovies found in trawled specimens' stomachs might have been eaten inside the trawl net. Overall feeding behaviours highlighted for S. porcus in this study are in line with what reported in literature in other areas, where this predator diet is mainly based on crustaceans and, only secondarily, on fishes, rarely on molluscs and polychaetes (Arculeo et al 1989;Başçınar and Saglam 2009;Bradai and Bouain 1990;Carpentieri et al 2001;Demirhan and Can 2009;Follesa et al 2004;Harmelin-Vivien et al 1989;Morte et al 2001;Pallaoro and Jardas 1991); nonetheless, it must be noted that prey composition varies according to the area examined. From our results, a similar feeding behaviour, mainly based on crustaceans, is also detected in S. notata.…”

“…The occurrence of E. encrasicolus, which is one of the most common pelagic species in the study area, in S. porcus stomach contents is not new to our knowledge. Demirhan and Can (2009) reported that this species are among the organisms that Black Sea S. porcus commonly preys on. This would indicate that black scorpionfish exploits not only benthic species, but also relies on water column organisms for its diet.…”

Age and growth of the black scorpionfish, <i>Scorpaena porcus</i> (Pisces: Scorpaenidae) from artificial structures and natural reefs in the Adriatic Sea

“…On the other hand, the Black Sea population of S. porcus seems to be able to attain a larger maximum size at a lower growth rate (Koca, 2002). In two most recent studies from the Black Sea, the von Bertalanffy growth function did not adequately model the growth of S. porcus, providing an unreliable estimate of asymptotic length (Bilgin and Çelik, 2008;Demirhan and Can, 2009).…”

“…Compared with other Mediterranean species of Scorpaena of larger size, such as S. scrofa and S. elongata (Bradai and Bouain, 1988;Ragonese et al, 2003;La Mesa et al, 2005), S. porcus is a slow-growing and short-lived fish, with a maximum life span of 11 years (SiblotBoutaflika, 1976;Bradai and Bouain, 1988;Jardas and Pallaoro, 1992). Similarly, S. porcus attains 6 and 8 years of age in the Marmara Sea (Ünsal and Oral, 1996) and Black Sea (Koca, 2002;Bilgin and Çelik, 2008;Demirhan and Can, 2009), respectively.…”

Hierarchical Bayesian analysis to incorporate age uncertainty in growth curve analysis and estimates of age from length: Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus) carcasses

“…Overlooking such error in age measurements can create inaccuracies in growth, recruitment, and mortality analyses, leading to significant consequences for species management (Beamish and McFarlane 1983;Kimura and Lyons 1991;Campana 2001). In particular, some methods have incorporated age error into growth curve models (Leberg et al 1989;Cope and Punt 2007), but growth curve research often does not account for age uncertainty (Demirhan and Can 2009;Moura et al 2009;Uehara et al 2009). …”