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 of Marmara 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. The mean CPUE value was at its highest in summer and autumn, and the lowest was observed in winter and spring. The by-region mean CPUE value of P. longirostris was the highest in the northern Sea of Marmara (14.3 }1.9 kg h-1), and the lowest was detected in the south (3.6 }1.0 kg h-1). The highest biomass value was found at a depth of 50-100 m, in the northern Sea of Marmara, while the lowest was calculated in the southeastern Sea of Marmara.