Abstract

Objective: To determine growth and reproduction biology of Philocheras trispinosus (P. trispinosus) with abundance of other caridean shrimps caught by beam trawl in the Southern Black Sea. Methods: Samplings were carried out monthly with a beam trawl of 2 m length and 15 mm cod-end mesh size between December 2012 and November 2013. All individuals were sampled between 1 and 40+ m water depth from 146 hauls. Results: A total of 550 P. trispinosus, 618 Palaemon adspersus, 12 Palaemon serratus, 11 Philocheras fasciatus and 10 Crangon crangon were sampled during the study period. The crangonid shrimps started appearing during the winter and spring and the number of individuals increased to reach their highest value in mid-winter and mid-spring. The seasonal von Bertalanffy growth parameters for P. trispinosus were estimated as L∞ = 29.3 mm total length, K = 0.860/year, t0 = –0.900 year, C = 0.180, and ts = 0.010. The start of the slow growth period was at the beginning of July (WP = 0.510). Ovigerous females appeared in the sampling area between January and April. Size at sexual maturity was estimated as 25.69 mm total length. Conclusions: The results supported the distribution and abundance of caridean shrimp species from the study area and the population dynamics of the most abundant shrimp species, P. trispinosus. The current study can be answered as baseline data prior to management strategies to ensure sustainable conservation of the shrimp species.

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