Gökçen Bilge

First record of the Small-toothed Argentine, Glossanodon leioglossus (Valenciennes, 1848) (Osteichthyes: Argentinidae), from Turkey

This record suggests a wider range for the Brown Bear in Golestan National Park than indicated by KIABI et al (1994). Although ZIAIE (1996) has mentioned that Brown Bears feed on fruits, roots, seeds, buds and animals materials, it was not known that sunflowers are also part of the diet of this species. This may be seen an adaptation to local food resources. Brown Bears may thus cause significant damage to farmers, and the payment of compensation must be considered. This should be put into operation as an agreement between the Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture and the Department of the Environment (DOE), before farmers consider to kill the bears.

DETERMINATION OF SAGITTAL OTOLITH BIOMETRY AND BODY SIZE OF Serranus cabrilla (Linnaeus, 1758) DISTRIBUTED IN SOUTHERN AEGEAN SEA

Fish otoliths are generally used to determine taxon, age and size of the teleost fishes and are useful tools for studies of prey-predator relationships, population dynamics and ichthyo-archaeology. In the present study, the equations for the relationships were calculated between fish length (TL), weight (W) versus sagittal otolith length (OL), height (OH) and weight (OW) in comber ( Serranus cabrilla , Linnaeus, 1758) specimens (N=310, 95–225 mm in TL and 7.54–111.27 g) captured via bottom trawl vessels from off the Gulluk Bay (Southern Aegean Sea) between January and December 2013. Since there has been no statistical differences between left and right otoliths (p>0.05), left otoliths were used for calculations. Regression formulas were calculated as follows: TL=28.75*OL–22.31, TL=64.36*OH–6.808, TL=2380*OW 0.640 , W=0.056*OL 3.618 , W=2.029*OH 3.254 , W=5168*OW–28.33, OH=0.414*OL–0.054, OW=0.0000053*OL 1.542 , and OW=0.003*OH 1.382 . The aim of this study is to fill in the missing data concerning otolith and fish size relationships of the species in the southern Aegean Sea, thereby providing researchers studying food habits of top predators to determine the size and weight of prey fish from length or weight of recovered otoliths.

NORTHWARDS RANGE EXPANSION OF Sparisoma cretense (Linnaeus, 1758) IN THE TURKISH AEGEAN SEA

The northward establishment of Sparisoma cretense in the Turkish waters of Aegean Sea is documented. Three samples of this thermophilic species were collected on 19 March 2014 along the eastern coasts, at the limits between the Central and Northern part of the basin. Meridionalization and tropicalization in the Aegean Sea are briefly discussed.