Length-weight relationships of invasive mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859 in 23 river basins of Turkey

Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859 has established very strong populations in freshwater resources in Turkey after being introduced into Amik Lake Hatay/Antakya at the beginning of the 1920s. In this study, it was aimed to determine the female:male ratios and length-weight relationships of G. holbrooki populations in Turkey, which are considered as a threat, especially for endemic species. G. holbrooki specimen were sampled at total of 66 locations, including 39 lentic and 27 lotic locations, between 2016 and 2017. The female:male ratio was 1:0.39 for all of the investigated localities. Length-weight relationships were investigated at 44 sampling locations for the females and 34 sampling locations for the males. The sampled specimens ranged between 12.7 and 57.2 mm in total length, and 0.03 and 2.88 g in total weight. The length-weight relationship of the female and male G. holbrooki specimens indicated mostly isometric growth, whereas the b values varied between 1.755 and 4.009, and 2.154 and 3.665 for the females and males, respectively, in terms of the sampling locations.

Keywords:

Anatolia, freshwater, fish b value, growth parameters,

___

Alcaraz C, García-Berthou E (2007). Life history variation of invasive mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) along a salinity gradient. Biological Conservation 139 (1-2): 83-92. doi: 10.1016/j. biocon.2007.06.006
Balık S, Ustaoğlu MR, Sarı HM, İlhan A, Topkara ET (2005). Yuvarlakçay (Köyceğiz, Muğla)’ın balık faunası. Ege Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 22 (1-2): 221-223 (in Turkish).
Berber S, Şaşı H, Topkara ET, Cengiz Ö (2011). Apolyont Gölü (Bursa) balık faunasının belirlenmesi. Ege Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 26 (1): 27-55.
Birecikligil S, Çiçek E (2011). Gaziantep ili sınırları içindeki Fırat ve Asi Havzası akarsuları balık faunası. Biyoloji Bilimleri Araştırma Dergisi (BİBAD), 4 (2): 29-34 (in Turkish).
Buttermore KF, Litkenhaus PN, Torpey DC, Smith GR, Retting JE (2011). Effects of Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) cues on wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) tadpole activity. Acta Herpetologica 6 (1): 81-85. doi: 10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-9580
Cech JJ, Massingill MJ, Vondracek B, Linden AL (1985). Respiratory metabolism of mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis: effects of temperature, dissolved oxygen, and sex difference. Environmental Biology of Fishes 13: 297-307.
Copp GH, Bianco PG, Bogutskaya N, Erős T, Falka I et al. (2005a). To be, or not to be, a non-native freshwater fish? Journal of Applied Ichthyology 21: 242-262. doi: 10.1111/ j.1439- 0426.2005.00690.x
Copp GH, Kováč V, Ojaveer H, Rosenthal H (2005b). The introduction, establishment, dispers aland impact of introduced non-native fishes. Journal of Applied Ichthology Blackwell Verlag Berlin 21: 241. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2005.00690.x
Çiçek E, Fricke R, Sungur S, Eagderi, E (2018). Endemic freshwater fishes of Turkey. FishTaxa 3 (4): 1-39.
Eagderi S, Radkhah A (2015). Length–weight relationship and condition factor of Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) in three inland basins of Iran. Poeciliid Research 5 (1): 39-43.
Ekmekçi G, Kırankaya ŞG, Gençoğlu L, Yoğurtçuoğlu B (2013). Türkiye içsularındaki istilacı balıkların güncel durumu ve istilanın etkilerinin değerlendirilmesi. İstanbul Üniversitesi Su Ürünleri Dergisi 28 (1): 105-140 (in Turkish).
Ergüden SA (2013). Age, growth, sex ratio and diet of eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859 in Seyhan Dam Lake (Adana/Turkey). Iran Journal of Fisheries Science 12 (1): 204-218.
Ergüden SA, Ergüden D (2008). A preliminary research on growth feature of the mosquitofish Gambusia affinis (Baird&Girard, 1853) determined in Seyhan Dam Lake (Adana-Turkey). Journal of Fisheries Science 2 (3): 312-320. doi: 10.3153/ jfscom.mug.200718
Fernández-Delgado C, Rossomanno S (1997). Reproductive biology of the mosquitofish in a permanent natural lagoon in south‐ west Spain: two tactics for one species. Journal of Fish Biology 51: 80-92.
Freyhof J, Ekmekçi FG, Ali A, Khamees NR, Özuluğ M et al. (2014). Freshwater Fishes. In: Smith KG, Barrios V, Darwall WRT, Numa C (editors). The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in the Eastern Mediterranean. Cambridge (UK), Malaga (Spain) and Gland (Switzerland): IUCN.
Gaygusuz Ö, Tarkan AS, Aydın H, Dorak Z, Top N et al. (2015). Stocking of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) into some newlyestablished reservoirs of North-West Anatolia may enhance the spread of non-native fish. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 15 (4): 833-840. doi: 10.4194/1303-2712- v15_4_06
Güçlü SS, Küçük F (2011). Reproductive biology of Aphanius mento (Heckel in : Russegger 1843) (Osteichthyes : Cyprinodontidae) in Kırkgöz Spring (Antalya : Turkey). Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 11 (2): 323-327. doi: 10.4194/ trjfas.2011.0217
Hamer AJ, Lane SJ, Mahony MJ (2002). The role of introduced mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) in excluding the native green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea) from original habitats in south-eastern Australia. Oecologia 132 (3): 445- 452. doi: 10.1007/s00442-002-0968-7
Howe E, Howe C, Lim R, Burchett M (1997). Impact of the introduced Poeciliid Gambusia holbrooki (Giarad, 1859) on the growth and reproduction of Pseudomugil signifer (Kner, 1865) in Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 48: 425-434.
İlhan A, Sarı HM (2015). Length–weight relationships of fish species in Marmara Lake, West Anatolia, Turkey. Croatian Journal of Fisheries 73 (73): 30-32. doi: 10.14798/73.1.784
İnnal D, Erk’akan F (2006). Effects of exotic and translocated fish species in the inland waters of Turkey. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 16 (1): 39-50. doi: 10.1007/s11160-006-9005-y
Klassen JA, Gawlik DE, Botson BA, (2014). Length–weight and length-length relationships for common fish and crayfish species in the Everglades, Florida, USA. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 30 (3): 564-566.
Krumholz LA (1948). Reproduction in the western mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and its use in mosquito control. Ecological Monographs 18: 1-43.
Kuru M (1975). Dicle-Fırat Kura-Aras Van Gölü ve Karadeniz Havzası Tatlı Sularında Yaşayan Balıkların (Pisces) Sistematik ve Zoocoğrafik Yönden İncelenmesi, PhD, Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey (in Turkey).
Küçük F, Sarı HM, Demir O, Gülle İ (2009). Review of the ichthyofaunal changes in Lake Eğirdir between 1915 and 2007. Turkish Journal of Zoology 33 (3): 277-286. doi: 10.3906/zoo0811-16
Ling N (2004). Gambusia in Newzealand: really bad or just misunderstood?. Newzealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 38 (3): 473-480. doi: 10.1080/00288330.2004.9517254
Lloyd L (1987). An alternative to insect control by “mosquitofish” Gambusia affinis. In: St. George TD, Kay BH, Blok J (editors). Proceedings 4th Symposium on Arbovirus Research, Australia : Q.I.M.R. Brisbane, pp. 156-163.
Lloyd LN, Tomasow JF (1985). Taxonomic status of the mosquitofish Gambusia affinis (Poeciliidae), in Australia. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 36 (3): 447-451. doi: 10.1071/MF9850447
Milton DA, Arthington AH (1983). Reproductive biology of Gambusia affinis holbrooki Baird and Giarard, Xiphophorus helleri (Gunther) and X. maculates (Heckel) Pisces; Poeciliidae) in Queensland, Australia. Journal of Fish Biology 23 (1): 23-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1983.tb02879.x
Moreno-Valcárcel R, Oliva-Paterna FJ, Arribas C, FernándezDelgado C (2012). Lengthweight relationships for 13 fish species collected in the Doñana marshlands (Guadalquivir estuary, SW Spain). Journal of Applied Ichthyology 28: 663- 664.
Moutopoulos DK, Stergiou KI (2002). Length–weight and length– length relationships of fish species from the Aegean Sea (Greece). Journal of Applied Ichthyology 18 (3): 200-203. doi: 10.1046/j.1439-0426.2002.00281.x
Nikolsky GV (1980). Theory of fish population Dynamics, Otto Koeltz Science Publishers, Koenigstein, 323.
Öztürk Ş, İkiz R (2003). Akgöl (Fethiye-Muğla) sivrisinek balığı Gambusia affinis (Baird & Girard, 1853) popülasyonunun bazı biyolojik özellikleri. Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences 27 (4): 911-915 (in Turkish).
Öztürk Ş, İkiz R (2004). Some biological properties of mosquitofish populations (Gambusia affinis) living in inland waters of the Western Mediterranean region of Turkey. Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences 28: 355-361.
Özuluğ M, Saç G, Gaygusuz Ö (2013). İstilacı özellikteki Gambusia holbrooki, Carassius gibelio ve Pseudorasbora parva (Teleostei) türleri için Türkiye’den yeni yayılım alanları. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 28 (1): 1-22 (in Turkish).
Pajuelo JG, Lorenzo JM (1998). Population biology of common pandora Pagellus erythrinus (Pisces : Sparidae) of the Canary Islands. Fisheries Research 36: 75-86.
Petrakis G, Stergiou KI (1995). Weight–length relationships for 33 fish species in Greek waters. Fisheries Research 21: 465-469.
Pyke GH (2005). A review of the biology of Gambusia affinis and Gambusia holbrooki. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 15: 339-365. doi: 10.1007/s11160-006-6394-x
Pyke GH (2008). Plague minnow or Mosquitofish? A review of the biology and impacts of introduced Gambusia species. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 39: 171-191. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.39.110707.173451
Ricker WE (1973). Linear regressions in fishery research. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 30(3): 409-434. doi: 10.1139/f73-072
Rupp HR (1996). Adverse assessments of Gambusia affinis: an alternative view for mosquito control practitioners. Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 12: 155-166.
Sangun L, Akamca E, Akar M (2007). Weight-length relationships for 39 fish species from the NorthEastern Mediterranean Coast of Turkey. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 7: 37-40.
Sedaghat S, Hoseini A (2012). Length–weight and length-length relationships of Gambusia (Gambusia holbrooki) in the Dinor River Kermanshah, Iran. World Journal of Fish and Marine Sciences 4 (5): 530-532.
Şekercioğlu ÇH, Anderson S, Akçay E, Bilgin R, Can, ÖE et al. (2011). “Turkey’s globally important biodiversity in crisis”. Biological Conservation 144 (2011): 2752-2769. doi: 10.1016/j. biocon.2011.06.025
Tarkan AS, Gaygusuz Ö, Acıpınar H, Gürsoy Ç, Özuluğ M (2006). Length–weight relationship of fishes from the Marmara region (NW-Turkey). Journal of Applied Ichthyology 22 (4): 271-273. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2006.00711.x
Tarkan AS, Marr SM, Ekmekçi FG (2015). Non-native and translocated freshwater fish species in Turkey. Fishes in Mediterranean Environments 3: 28.
Uğurlu S, Polat N (2007). Samsun ili tatlı su kaynaklarında yaşayan egzotik balık türleri. Journal of Fisheriessciences 1 (3): 139- 151. doi:10.3153/jfscom.2007017
Wootton RJ (1998). Ecology of teleost fishes. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 396 pp.
Yeğen V, Balık S, Bilçen E, Sarı HM, Uysal R et al. (2007). Afyon ili akarsularında yayılış gösteren balık türleri ve dağılımları. Türk Sucul Yaşam Dergisi Ulusal Su Günleri Year : 3-5, 5 (8): 419- 428.
Yoğurtçuoğlu B, Ekmekçi FG (2017). Variation in Life History and Feeding Ecology of the Invasive Eastern Mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859 (Poeciliidae), in a Groundwater-dependent Wetland in Turkey. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 9: 117-130.
Zarev VY (2012). Some life-history traits of Gambusia holbrooki (Pisces : Poecilidae) from Bulgaria. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 64 (3): 263-272.
Zar JH (1999). Biostatistical analysis. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice Hall, 662.