Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Abundance and Biomass of Parapenaeus longirostris (Lucas, 1846) in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey

Abstract

The present research study investigated the catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE, kg/h) and biomass of Parapenaeus longirostris in consideration of three parameters, i.e. seasons, regions, and depth levels.Beam trawls were used to collect the specimens at a total of 229 sampling stations in the Sea ofMarmara between September 2011 and July 2014. In the Sea of Marmara, the mean CPUE of P.longirostris was calculated to be 8.4±0.5 kg h-1 , and the mean biomass to be 354 kg/km-2. Themean CPUE value was at its highest in summer and autumn, and the lowest was observed in winterand spring. The by-region mean CPUE value of P. longirostris was the highest in the northern Seaof Marmara (14.3±1.9 kg h-1), and the lowest was detected in the south (3.6±1.0 kg h-1). The highestbiomass value was found at a depth of 50-100 m, in the northern Sea of Marmara, while the lowestwas calculated in the southeastern Sea of Marmara.