Ali İlhan

Risk screening of non-native and translocated freshwater fish species in a Mediterranean-type shallow lake: Lake Marmara (West Anatolia)

Risk screening tools to identify species with a high or low risk of invasiveness are being increasingly used for effective management purposes. Amongst the available tools, the Fish Invasiveness Screening Kit (FISK) has been used extensively and successfully in large risk assessment (RA) areas, and was recently upgraded to the new generic tool Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS-ISK). The aim of the present study was to assess with AS-ISK the invasive potential of introduced non-native and translocated fishes in a Mediterranean-type shallow lake (Lake Marmara) located in west Anatolia (Turkey). Based on independent evaluations of 35 species by two assessors, calibration of AS-ISK resulted in a threshold score of -3.65, which reliably distinguished between potentially invasive (high risk) and potentially non-invasive (medium to low risk) fishes. Of the 35 species assessed, 17 were categorised as ‘low risk’ and included native/endemic and translocated natives, and the remaining 18 as ‘high risk’ and comprised non-natives and translocated natives. Carassius gibelio had the highest score in the Climate Change Assessment section, suggesting that it might potentially impact on the native fish fauna under likely climate change scenarios for the RA area. Some cool water non-native (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Salvelinus fontinalis), translocated native (Luciobarbus lydianus) and endemic species (Ladigesocypris mermere) in the catchment will likely be affected negatively by predicted climate change conditions.

LENGTH-WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS OF FISH SPECIES IN MARMARA LAKE, WEST ANATOLIA, TURKEY

The study reports on length–weight relationships (LWRs) for 13 fish species (Atherina boyeri, Cobitis fahirae, Alburnus battalgilae, Cyprinus carpio, Carassius gibelio, Ladigesocypris mermere, Pseudorasbora parva, Petroleuciscus smyrnaeus, Rhodeus amarus, Vimba vimba, Sander lucioperca, Gambusia affinis, Knipowitschia mermere) of 6 families in Marmara Lake, which is an alluvial set lake in west Anatolia, Turkey. Fish were caught between March 2012 and February 2013 with trammel nets and gillnets. The length– weight relationship was calculated using the expression: log (W) = log (a) + b log (L). Parameters of LWR are computed as “ a” ranging from 0.0053 to 0.0385, “ b” from 2.346 to 3.429, and “ r 2” from 0.814 to 0.994. Growth types were determined to be isometric, positive allometric and negative allometric for 4, 4 and 5 species, respectively. In addition, the present study includes first records of LWR for two endemic and two native species in freshwater of Turkey. The results would be useful for the protection of the presence of endemic species and sustainable fisheries in the lake.

Threatened fishes of the world: Chondrostoma beysehirense Bogutskaya, 1997 (Cyprinidae)

Common name: Sarikuyruk (Tr), Beysehir nase (En) (Artuz 2005). Conservation status: Endangered EN (Crivelli 2006). Identification: D IV 9, A III–IV (9) 10 (11), Lateral line scales 65–71, gillrakers 34–40, total vertebrae 45–46, modal pharyngeal teeth formula 7–7. Body elongate and laterally compressed. The snout is elongate, narrow and rounded at the tip. The mouth cleft is almost straight, the lower jaw bears a prominent, sharp corneous layer. Specimens are light brown dorsally, turning gradually creamy white ventrally (Bogutskaya 1997). Distribution: C. beysehirense is endemic to Turkey with a highly restricted distribution, only known from Beysehir Lake (and a few streams connected to this freshwater lake) in Central Anatoliae (Bogutskaya 1997). Abundance: C. beysehirense is rare in the Beysehir Lake area (Kuru et al. 2001), also observed in Beysehir Lake, Altinapa dam lake, Apa dam lake, Derbent pond, Sarisu Stream and Carsamba Stream (Yegen et al. 2006). Habitat and ecology: Prefers shallow areas with coarse substrates (i.e. gravel, pebbles, stones) in rivers and lakes (Geldiay and Balik 2007). Reproduction: Unknown. Threats: Habitat loss, eutrophication, pollution, construction, weirs and dams in rivers, water extraction, aquaculture, exotic species introductions (Fricke et al. 2007). Conservation action: Beysehir Lake area is a national park. Further survey work is required to assess the current population size. Conservation recommendations: The remaining populations should be fully protected. Detailed information on biology and ecology of this species in the lake is required. Water management should be improved, and priority should be given to regulate the water regime of the lake, especially in dry seasons. Remarks: This species has no commercial value and is not suitable for fisheries. Environ Biol Fish (2009) 86:483–484 DOI 10.1007/s10641-009-9557-5

Threatened fishes of the world: Pseudophoxinus egridiri (Karaman, 1972) (Cyprinidae)

Common name: Egirdir akca cicek baligi (Tr), Orient minnow (En), Egridir pfrille (Al), Veron d’oriantal (Fr), Amarante di oriente (It), Daska Turko (Is) (Artuz, 2005). Conservation status: Critically Endangered CR B1 ab (i,ii,iv,v) + 2 ab (i,ii,iv,v) (Crivelli and Erk’akan 2006). Identification: D III 8, A III 7, Lateral line scales 43–54, pored lateral line scales 2, pharyngeal teeth 5-4, gill-rakers 7–9 (10), total number of vertebra 35–36 (rarely 34 or 37) (Bogutskaya 1992). Distribution: P. egridiri is restricted to the tributaries of Lake Egirdir in Central Anatolia, Turkey. Abundance: Rare populations in Lake Egirdir (Kuru et al. 2001). Habitat and ecology: It occurs in temperate lentic biotopes and streams with plentiful vegetation. Feeds especially on insect larvae (Geldiay and Balik 2007). Reproduction: There is no information on the reproduction of this species. Threats: Introduction of some exotic fishes [in 1955 Sander lucioperca, in 1970 Gambusia affinis, in 1994 Carassius auratus, in 1996 Tinca tinca, in 1999 Knipowitschia caucasica, in 2002 Atherina boyeri (Kesici et al. 2006)] to the lake in addition to habitat loss, eutrophication and pollution, (Fricke et al. 2007). Conservations action: No conservation actions have been implemented. Conservation recommendations: Detailed information on biology and ecology of this species is required. After introduction of Sander lucioperca, P. egridiri disappeared from the area. However the species has been recorded from some of the streams connected to the lake. Predation by S. lucioperca must be controlled and limited the permit survival of the species. Remarks: This species is endemic with a restricted distribution in Turkey.

Morphometrical features of the lakes on Kaçkar and Soğanlı Mountains (Turkey).

In this study, determination of morphometrical features of the mountain lakes on Soğanlı and Kaçkar mountains, which are located in Eastern Black Sea mountains range that lies parallel to Black Sea, was aimed. Six field studies were conducted in summer periods between 2005 and 2007, in order to study 59 lakes located in the valleys of different river drainage basins. Some morphological features such as altitude, surface area, maximum depth, maximum length, maximum width, mean width, shore line length, shore line development and relative depth of the studied lakes were calculated. Although there are many cirque lakes on the mountains where glaciations occurred, there is no detailed study about the morphological features of them. All the studied lakes are in cirque lake character except Uzungöl lake. The altitude values of the lakes fluctuated between 11003370 m (mean 2825 m) while the surface area values were between 0.03-8.90 ha (mean 2.46 ha), maximum depths were between 0.5-49.0 m (mean 7.39 m), maximum lengths were between 25.2-497.4 m (mean 216.75 m), maximum widths were between 15.5-297.9 m (mean 134.98 m), mean widths were between 13.68-210.56 m (mean 92.77 m), shoreline lengths were between 67.0-1364.6 m (mean 593.88 m), shoreline developments were between 0.83-1.54 (mean 1.19) and relative depths were between 0.32-15.0 m (mean 4.34 m).

Türkiye'nin 7 akarsu havzasında horozbina, Salaria fluviatilis (Asso,1801), balığına ait boy-ağırlık ilişkisi.

Bu calismada Turkiye‟nin 7 akarsu havzasindan toplanmis olan Horozbina Baligi (Salaria fluviatilis)‟na ait boy-agirlik iliskisinin ortaya cikarilmasi amaclanmistir. Marmara, Kucuk Menderes, Bati Karadeniz, Antalya, Dogu Akdeniz, Seyhan ve Ceyhan havzalarina ait akarsulardan toplanmis olan 652 birey incelenmistir. Tum bireyler dikkate alindiginda turun Turkiye icsularindaki total boy dagilimi 2.0-12.9 cm, total agirlik dagilimi 0.10-33.82 g, boy-agirlik iliskisi parametreleri a= 0.0135, b= 3.004, r2= 0.986 olarak hesaplanmistir. Ayrica, buyume tipi havzalarin 5‟inde izometrik, 1 havzada pozitif allometrik ve 1 havzada da negatif allometrik olarak belirlenmistir