The veined rapa whelk is one of the most important invasive species in the
Black Sea ecosystem since the 1940s. Following its introduction to the Black
Sea, it destroyed most of the bivalve populations, mainly the Mediterranean
mussel and oysters. However, the veined rapa whelk has commercial importance
for the Black Sea fisheries as an alternative product. In this study, we
aimed to determine some population parameters of the veined rapa whelk based
on indirect ageing through length–frequency data by using the Bhattacharya
method. We collected 1704 specimens by dredging along the coasts of Samsun
Province in the Central Black Sea in 2011 from June to November. The age of
the population varied from 0 to 6. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were
estimated as L∞ = 112.35 mm, k = 0.310, t0 = −0.486 and W∞ = 243.94 g. Mean length and weight, length–weight relationship,
mortality and exploitation rates were derived as
L = 56.80 ± 0.36 mm, W = 45.67 ± 0.89 g,
W = 0.0006 L2.719, Z = 0.96,
M = 0.57, F = 0.39 and
E = 0.40, respectively.
First morphometric aspects and growth parameters of the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis Linnaeus, 1758) for the Black Sea, Turkey
