Weight-Length Relationships for 20 Fish Species in the Adriatic Sea

Weight-length relationships for 20 fish species in the Adriatic Sea are reported. Specimens were caught from 1999 to 2009 during fishing surveys with trammel nets at dephts ranging from 12 to 90 m. A total of 38562 individuals were collected, belonging to 20 fish species from 14 families. Sparidae included the highest number of species (4), followed by Scombridae, Carangidae and Gadidae (2 species), and by the remaining 10 families (1 species). In numerical terms, the most important species was Chelidonichthys lucerna (6616), followed by Solea solea (5401), and Boops boops (5257). The b values in the relationship W = aL(b) varied between 2.816 (for Pagellus bogaraveo) and 3.395 (for Scomber scombrus), and showed a mean value of 3.076 (+/- 0.147 SD). To the authors' best knowledge, this study presents the first reference available on WLR for P. bogaraveo and Alosa fallax in the Adriatic Sea.