INVESTIGATIONS ON WEIGHT LOSS OCCURING IN WINTER SEASON AND GROWTH OF GILTHEAD SEA BREAM (SPARUS AURATA) REARED IN THE BLACK SEA

Investigations on weight loss occuring in winter season and growth of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) reared in the Black Sea

Temel Sahin, Bilal Akbulut, Muharrem Aksungur

Central Fisheries Research Institute, Şana, Trabzon, TURKEY

Abstract

In this research, weight loss occurring in winter season and growth performance of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L., 1758) have been investigated in a cage on Eastern Black Sea coast. Fish (n=2590) with initial mean total length of 11.1±0.17 cm, body weight 24.4± 1.14 g, condition factor of 1.7±0.02  were stocked in a cage on  11 September  1996 and  fed by hand three times a day, up to they were satisfied. At monthly intervals, 30 fish were taken as sample and their total lengths and body weights measured to determine growth,  food conversion, feeding rates and condition factor. After 421 days at the end of the experiment, mean values of total length, body weight and condition factor were determined as 26.3±0.28 cm, 258.9±9.47 g and 1.7±0.02 respectively. It is observed that growth almost ceased after November when the  seawater temperature dropped below 16°C, the fish have lost weight between January and April, then growth rate increased as depending on rising  the seawater temperature.

Keywords: Gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata , weight loss, growth, Black Sea