Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 September 2014
Otolith microstructure analysis was used to determine daily age, growth rateand hatching periods of young of the year (YOY) common two-banded seabream,Diplodus vulgaris, collected at two sites by using beachseine from Çanakkale shallow waters between January and December 2007. Totallength of the YOY D. vulgaris was between 12 and 86 mm andthe daily ages ranged between 42 and 313 days. Somatic growth rate estimatedby fitting a linear regression to the age–length data set was calculated as 0.273 mm day−1. According to the length–age regressionanalysis, maximum daily growth rates were found 0.277 mm day−1 inthe lowest sea temperature period and minimum values of 0.274 mm day−1 were observed in the declining sea temperatureperiod. Analysis of covariance indicated that there were no significantdifferences in the linear growth equations for the two cohorts (F = 0.4008, P = 0.527). Hatching period of the YOY was estimated tooccur between October and March with relatively higher frequency in January.This study has shown that YOY D. vulgaris is a winterspawner in the Çanakkale shallow waters.