Growth Characteristics and Reproduction of Comber, <I>Serranus Cabrilla</I> (Actinopterygii, Perciformes, Serranidae), in the Aegean Sea

Abstract

The comber, Serranus cabrilla (Linnaeus, 1758), is a moderately exploited commercial serranid species occurring in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean to a depth of 500 m, on rocks, Posidonia beds, sandy and muddy bottoms (Whitehead et al. 1986). Aegean Sea is an important region for the Turkish fishing industry, accounting for 44 386 t total catch. S. cabrilla is reported to have contributed about 0.18% (in weight) in total catch, which included 64 fish species in the Aegean Sea (Anonymous 2007). In spite of its wide distribution, this species is especially a by catch species for trawls and trammel nets and has a minor commercial value, so that knowledge on the biology of this species is incomplete and scarce when compared by other demersal fish species in the area. Bouain 1981 and Benmouna et al. 1984, who studied comber, focused on the physiology and reproductive biology of the species, ignoring growth and mortality, crucial for stock assessment. Papaconstantinou et al. (1994) reported data on the growth parameters and the length at first maturation for comber in the North Aegean Sea (Greece), while Politou and Papaconstantinou (1995), presented growth parameters and age composition of comber in the Northern Greece. Feeding habits of this species were determined in the Canary Islands by Tuset et al. (1996). Stergiou (1997) and Garcia-Diaz et al. (1997) examined the spawning seasonality and the sex and reproductive aspects in Serranus cabrilla in the English Channel and the Canary Island, respectively. The length–weight relations for comber were presented by Goncalves et al. (1997) and Stergiou and Motopoulos (2001) in south-west coast of Portugal and Greek waters, respectively. Tserpes and Tsimenides (2001) reported data on the age, growth, and mortality of comber from the Cretan shelf. Shape indices to identify regional differences in otolith morphology of comber otoliths were examined by Tuset et al. (2003) from the Atlantic and Mediterranean. From Turkish Seas, Turker-Cakir and Torcu-Koc (2002) examined its feeding habits and also ACTA ICHTHYOLOGICA ET PISCATORIA (2010) 40 (1): 55–60 DOI: 10.3750/AIP2010.40.1.07