Comparison of number and shape of parr marks in three species of the genus Salmo and two ecotypes of cultured brown trout Salmo trutta from Turkey

Abstract

This study focused on the variation in number and shape of parr marks in three fish species of the genus Salmo [S. abanticus Tortonese, (1954), S. caspius Kessler, (1877) and S. labrax Pallas, (1814)] and two ecotypes of cultured brown trout [S. trutta macrostigma (Dumeril, 1858) and S. trutta fario Linnaeus, (1758)]. The brown trouts were collected from 11 streams in Turkey by electrofishing and transferred to the laboratory in an aerated container and then stocked in the adaptation tanks. Artificially fertilized eggs were incubated and larvae were maintained in fiberglass tanks and the variations in number and shape of parr marks in all five groups were studied for one year. The data collected indicated that there were significant differences in the number and size (length and width) of parr marks among the groups (p<0.05). The highest number of parr marks (11-13) was recorded in S. trutta macrostigma. Parr marks on the skin of S. trutta. macrostigma was found to remain stable during development.