Hasan M. Sarı

Recent changes in the fish fauna of Lake Bafa, Aegean region of Turkey

Abstract The current status of fishes found in Lake Bafa in the Aegean region of Turkey is described. The conspicuous augmentation of salinity in the last decade has resulted in the extinction of stenohaline freshwater species (Acanthobrama mirabilis, Chondrostoma nasus, Barbus pectoralis, Proterorhinus marmoratus and Silurus glanis) and has promoted the establishment of euryhaline fishes. Two species of marine origin, Gobius niger and Syngnathus abaster, are new additions to the ichthyofauna of Lake Bafa.

On the occurrence of Mytilaster marioni (Locard, 1889) (Mollusca; Bivalvia; Mytilidae) in Bafa Lake (Turkey), with a redescription of the species

In the framework of the study performed in 1997 on the ecological conditions of Bafa Lake and its benthic fauna and flora, a dense population of Mytilaster marioni (Locard, 1889) was observed to have recently colonised the lake. In this study, the ecological changes of the lake induced by a modification of the freshwater inflow, as well as the ecological and taxonomical features of M. marioni, have been investigated. This is the first record of the species from the coastal lakes of the Aegean Sea.

Threatened fishes of the world: Acanthobrama mirabilis Ladiges, 1960 (Cyprinidae)

DIII9,AIII16,llscales50–55,gill-rakers16–17,totalvertebrae40.Bodymod-erately deep (3.26–4.16 in TL), a little com-pressed, more or less fusiform; eyes small,its diameter 4.05–5.69 in head length. Mouthterminal, relatively small and without barbels.Caudal fin deeply forked. Body color variesfrom blackish to brownish in the back, withflanks light grey and the belly white; all finsare dark grey. Reaches 270mm TL and 250g(Balik & Ustaoglu 1989). Illustration by LeventYurga.

The freshwater leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea) of the Gediz catchment area (Izmir region)

Very little literature is available on the freshwater leeches of the Aegean region of Turkey. GELDIAY & TAREEN (1972) studied the benthic fauna of Gölcük Lake (Bozda ) and found five leech species (Helobdella stagnalis, Piscicola geometrica, Hirudo medicinalis, Erpobdella octoculata and Erpobdella testacea). KAZANCI et al. (1992) mentioned the presence of Haementaria costata and Dina lineata in the Köyce iz-Dalyan area. USTAO LU et al. (1998) reported six leech species (Haementaria costata, Hemiclepsis marginata, H. stagnalis, Glossiphonia complanata, Haemopis sanguisuga and E. octoculata) from Tahtal Dam Lake, and BALIK et al. (1999) studied rivers of the Northern Aegean region and reported two leech species (H. stagnalis and E. octaculata). KASPAREK et al. (2000) studied the distribution

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: 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.

İstilacı Gambusia Türlerinin (Gambusia holbrooki ve G. affinis) Özellikleri, Türkiye’deki Durumları ve Oluşturdukları Ekolojik Riskler

Bu calismada, ozellikle endemik turlerin devamliligi acisindan risk olusturdugu belirtilen iki sivrisinek baligi turunun sistematik ozellikleri, Turkiye’deki dagilimlari, morfolojik ve ekolojik ozellikleri, habitat ve besin tercihleri ile ureme ozellikleri hakkinda bazi bilgiler verilmistir. Gambusia affinis ve Gambusia holbrooki turleri tum dunyada sivrisinek baliklari olarak bilinmektedir. Bu calismada, siklikla karistirildiklarindan, ayrica biyolojik ve morfolojik acidan birbirlerine benzemelerinden dolayi, her iki tur beraber degerlendirilmistir. 1900’lu yillarin basindan itibaren sitma hastaligina karsi surdurulen biyolojik mucadeledeki yaygin kullanimlari ve sahip olduklari yuksek yasam toleranslarina bagli olarak gunumuzde dunya uzerindeki pek cok su kaynaginda dagilim gostermektedirler. Bu turler hakkinda yapilan bazi bilimsel calismalar, sivrisinek baliklarinin dunyadaki yaygin kaninin aksine ekosisteme zararsiz turler olmadiklarini gostermistir. Sivrisinek baliklari, ekosistem paylasiminda bulunduklari diger turleri, ozellikle onlarin yumurta ve larvalarini yuksek miktarlarda tuketmek ve besin rekabetine girmek sureti ile tehdit edebilmektedir. Her iki tur de Turkiye tatli sularindan bilinmektedir. Turkiye’de pek cok endemik balik turu bulunmasi sebebi ile sivrisinek baliklari biyolojik cesitlilik acisindan buyuk bir tehdittir. Turkiye’de sivrisinek baliklarinin tasinmasi ve asilanmasi resmi kurumlar tarafindan yasaklanmistir.

A preliminary study on the zooplankton composition of some lakes in the Western Black Sea Region (Turkey)

Bati Karadeniz Bolgesi’nde bulunan on uc golun (Poyrazlar Golu, Kucuk Akgol, Taskisigi Golu, Buyuk Akgol, Acarlar Golu, Melen Golu, Yenicaga Golu, Abant Golu, Golcuk Golu, Karamurat Golu, Suluklu Gol, Cubuk Golu, Sunnet Golu) zooplankton faunasi incelenmistir. Her golde 2002 ve 2003 yazinda iki plankton orneklemesi yapilmistir. Calisma sonucunda rotiferlerden 69, kladoserlerden 25 ve kopepodlardan 13 olmak uzere toplam 107 takson saptanmistir.

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).