Age and growth of the Mesopotamian barb Capoeta damascina in central Iran

IRANIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES SCIENCES, Vol. 16, No. 2.

Abstract:

Age and growth of Mesopotamian barb, Capoeta damascina, were studied in the Zayandehrud River, in central Iran, from March 2007 to April 2008. Among the 689 specimens studied, age groups in males ranged from 1⁺ to 9⁺ and that in females ranged from 1⁺ to 10⁺. The sex ratio (1M:1.6F) was not significantly different from 1:1 ratio. Maximum fork length and weight was 39 cm and 1,115 g for males and 54.2 cm and 2,340 g for females. In all age normal">C. damascina was described by von Bertalanffy growth curve as k=0.01, L_?=56.2 cm, t_o=-0.63 for males and k = 0.05, L_?=117.1 cm and t_{o =}-0.43 years for females. The length-weigh relationship was described as W=0.0169L^2.95 (r²=0.98) for males and as W=0.0155L^2.99 (r²=0.99) for females, indicating an isometric growth pattern in both sexes. Growth performance index ?` was estimated as 5.73 for males and 6.53 for females, indicating a faster growth rate in females.