Abstract
The Caucasian dwarf goby Knipowitschia caucasica is a small fish in the coastal wetlands of the southern Caspian Sea. The objective of this work was to describe its life-history aspects from individuals collected in the Gomishan wetland of Iran, a highly degraded ecosystem. We collected 707 fish along 18 months and calculated a short life span, TL∞=47.25mm for males, and TL∞=43.05mm for females, high mortality rate (1.84 and 5.83 year-1 for males and females, respectively), female dominance (M: F as 1: 1.22), low fecundity (average absolute fecundity: 672 oocytes.female-1 and mean relative fecundity 1209 oocyte.g-1 ), comparatively large oocytes (0.593 mm, ranging from 0.220 to 0.924 mm) and dependence on the wetland for spawning. Given adverse environmental changes in wetlands, we support the hypothesis that life-history traits confer this fish a high probability of extinction.
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