TurkJZool 26(2002)63-75 ©TÜB‹TAK ResearchNote AnInvestigationonFishFaunaoftheRiverMert(Samsun) SelmaU⁄URLUHELL‹,NazmiPOLAT OndokuzMay›sUniversity,FacultyofArtsandScience,DepartmentofBiology, Kurupelit,Samsun-TURKEY Received:27.04.2001 Abstract: ThisstudywascarriedoutbetweenMay1999andJune2000inordertodeterminethefishspeciesoftheRiverMert. Intotal,244individualsfromdifferentsamplingstationswerecaughtbyelectricshock,scoopnets,fishnetsandfishinglin es.In thisstudy,3speciesand2subspecieswereidentifiedasbelongingto3families( Cyprinidae,Cobitidae,Gobiidae).Thesystematic characteristicsoffishspecieswereexplained.Thesecharacteristicswerethencomparedwiththoseinpreviousstudies,andke ysto identificationwerealsopresented. KeyWords: RiverMert,Osteichtyes,Taxonomy,Fauna. MertIrma¤›(Samsun)Bal›kFaunas›ÜzerineBirAraflt›rma Özet: MertIrma¤›ndayaflayanbal›ktürleriniortayaç›karmakamac›ylayap›lanbuaraflt›rma,May›s1999-Haziran2000tarihleri aras›ndagerçeklefltirilmifltir.Farkl›istasyonlardantoplam244örnek;elektro-floker,bal›kkepçeleri,serpmeveoltalararac›l ›¤›yla yakalanm›flt›r.Buçal›flmada3familya( Cyprinidae,Cobitidae,Gobiidae )’yaait3türve2alttürtespitedilmifltir.Bal›ktürlerinin sistematikkarakterleriaç›klanarakdahaönceyap›lançal›flmalarlakarfl›laflt›rmalar›yap›lm›flvetayinanahtar›verilmifltir. AnahtarSözcükler: MertIrma¤›,Osteichtyes,Taksonomi,Fauna. Introduction ThereisnostudyrelatedtothefishfaunaoftheRiver Turkeyisacountryrichintermsofitsaquatic Mert.ThisriverisoneofthemajorriversnearSamsun, ecosystemsandwatersourcesowingtoits andprovidesapartoftheproteinrequirementsofthe geomorphologicalstructure.Itisnecessarytofindoutthe peopleinthearea.FishspeciesinhabitingtheRiverMert biologicalrichness,especiallywithregardsfishfaunae,to mustbedeterminedtosoastobetterallocateresources increasetheutilisationofproductsobtainedfrominland forthefuture.Thisstudyhasbeenrealizedtodetermine watersources.Thefirstsystematicresearchabout thefishspeciesoftheRiverMert,tocontributetoefforts freshwaterfishinTurkeywascarriedoutbyAbbottin seekingtobenefitfromfishwitheconomicimportance, 1835(1).Foreignresearcherstookfishsamplesthat andtoassistsimilarfutureinvestigations. theyhadcaughtfromTurkeytoEuropeanmuseums,and madetaxonomicpublicationsrelatedtothesefishfrom MaterialsandMethods 1835to1940(2).Alotofresearchhasbeen accomplishedrelatedtofreshwaterfishofTurkeyby ThesourcesoftheRiverMertaretwostreamsin bothlocalandforeignresearcherssince1940.Someof MountKarada¤intheprovinceofSamsun.Thisriveris themareBattalgil(3),Kuru(4),Ekingenand knownasKaraderewhileitpassesthroughLadik,andthe Sar›eyyübo¤lu(5),Çolak(6),Erk’akanandKuru(7), RiverKavakasitpassesthroughKavak.AftertheRiver Erdemli(8),Kutrup(2),andErgene(9).Systematic KavakjoinswiththeKarataflStreaminBo¤aziçi,ittakes studiesbylocalresearcherscontinueapace,especially thenameoftheRiverMert,andemptiesintotheBlack after1971.Thus,alotofinlandwaterfishfaunaehave Sea. beenrevealedthroughtaxonomicinvestigationsuptill Inthisstudy,stationsabletorepresentthefeaturesof now. theriverweredeterminedbytakingintoconsideration 63 AnInvestigationonFishFaunaoftheRiverMert(Samsun) ecologicalconditions.Thelocationsofthestationsare lengthandbarbellength(Figure2).Allmeristic showninFigure1.Thesamplesusedinthisstudywere characteristicswerecountedbylancet,pensandfish caughtfromdifferentstationsbetweenMay1999and needleunderastereoscopicbinocularmicroscope.The June2000.Samplecollectionwasgenerallydonebyan meristiccharacteristics,suchasbranchedandunbranched electricshockandscoopnets;fishnetsandfishinglines raysindorsal,ventral,analandpectoralfins,laterallines wereusedinthoseregionswhereelectricshockwasnot scales,linetransversalscales,bodyspots,genipor used. numbers,gillrakersonthefirstarch,barbelnumbers, rowandnumberofpharyngealteethwereexamined (Figure2). 1/1.000.000 HEAD BODY CAUDAL THEBLACKSEA D U.R B.R Predorsal SAMSUN Postdorsal ‹.D B.D L.lat L.lat C.P.D 4 C 3 2 ÇARfiAMBA P Bar.L A TEKKEKÖY Sn.L TheDivanbafl›1 Pond TheRiverMert E.D TheStreamofKaratafl H.L C.P.L ASARCIK S.L TheRiverKavak TheKozans›k›Pond F.L TheStreamofKaradere T.L LAD‹K Figure2. Generalfishfigureshowingpartsofthebody(Addingfrom Bal›k,15) Figure1. SamplingstationsforfishintheRiverMert T.L.: TotalLength,D: DorsalFin,F.L.: ForkLength, 1: Bo¤aziçi 3: Yukar›Avdan A: AnalFin, S.L.: StandardLength,V: VentralFin, 2: Kurcalan 4: Demirciköy Sn.L.: SnoutLength, P: PectoralFin, E.D.: Eye Diameter,C: CaudalFin,H.L.: HeadLength, B.R.: BranchedRay,I.D.: InterorbitalDistance, ThefishcaughtfromtheRiverMertwerepreserved U.R.: UnbranchedRay,B.D.: BodyDepth, accordingtoBal›k(10).Thecoloursandfeaturesof G.R.:GillRakers,Bar.L.: BarbelLength, S.D.: StandardDeviation,C.P.L.: LengthofCaudal, patternswererecordedaswell,andphotographswere S.E.: StandardErrorPeduncle,C.P.D.: DepthofCaudal takenbeforetheywerefixed. Peduncle, N: SpecimenNumbers, L.lat.: Lateralline scales,Min.: Minimum,L.tran.: Linetransversalscales, Pharyngealteeth,whichareimportantwhen Max.: Maximum,Sq.: Thenumberofscalesonaline determiningdifferentspeciesofCyprinidae,were betweenthebackoftheheadandthebeginningofthe carefullyremovedfromthefishandstoodforten caudalfininthefishwithoutlateralline. minutesin4%NaOH.Aftertheywerewashedwith distilledwater,thenumbersandpatternswere Todeterminethesystematicpositionsoffishes determinedandtheirphotographsweretakenundera inhabitingtheRiverMertandprepareakeyfor stereoscopicbinocularmicroscope.Theywerepreserved identification,thefollowingreferenceswereused: insmallplasticboxescontaining70%alcoholsolution. Slastenenko(11),Kuru(12,13),GeldiayandBal›k(14), Bal›kandUstao¤lu(15),andBlancetal.(16). Metricmeasurementsweremadebyadialcaliper with95%confidencelimitsandwithafishmeasurement scale.Thefollowingfourteenmetriccharacteristicswere Findings measured:totallength,standardlength,bodydepth, SystematicLocationsofFishintheRiverMert headlength,headdepth,headwidth,predorsal, postdorsal,lengthofcaudalpeduncle,depthofcaudal Atotalof244individualscaughtfromtheRiverMert peduncle,eyediameter,interorbitaldistance,snout wereevaluated.Asaresultofthisstudy,4genera,3 64 S.U⁄URLUHELL‹,N.POLAT speciesand2subspeciesbelongingto3familieswere 5. Pharyngealteethbiserial(Figure3.2).Therearedge identified.Thesespeciesandsubspecieshavebeen ofthelastunbrancheddorsalrayisnotserrated classifiedaccordingtoKuru(12). (Figure9.1)........................................................6 PHYLUM: Chordata Pharyngealteethtriserial(Figure4.2andFigure5.2). SUBPHYLUM: Vertebrata Therearedgeofthelastunbrancheddorsalrayis serrated(Figure9.2)...........................................7 CLADUS: Gnathostomata 6. Laterallinescales43-47.Analfinconvex.Lipsthin SUPERCLASSIS: Pisces andwelldeveloped.Theheadlengthisalwaysmore CLASSIS: Osteichthyes thanthebodydepth......Leuciscuscephalusorientalis SUBCLASSIS: Actinopterygii 7. Barbelsintwopairs.Laterallineismorethan60 SUPERORDO: Teleostei scales.Lipsarenotwelldeveloped(Figure10.1) .........................................................Capoetatinca 1.ORDO: Cypriniformes Barbelsinonepair.Laterallineislessthan60scales. SUBORDO: Cyprinoidei Lowerlipsarefleshy(Figure10.2).............. 1.FAMILIA: Cyprinidae .........................................Capoetacapoetasieboldi Leuciscuscephalusorientalis Capoetacapoetasieboldi SpeciesandSubspeciesInhabitingtheRiverMert Capoetatinca C.c.sieboldi,C.tinca,L.c.orientalisfromCyprinidae, 2.FAMILIA: Cobitidae O.angorae fromCobitidae,and G.fluviatilis from GobiidaewerecaughtintheRiverMert.Thesynonym, Orthrias(Noemacheilus)angorae terratypica,localname,andtaxonomiccharacteristicsare 2.ORDO: Perciformes presentedinthedataofthisstudyandinthereferences. FAMILIA: Gobiidae Thebodyratiosandmeristiccharacteristicsoffishcaught intheRiverMertareshowninthetablesaswell. Gobius(Neogobius)fluviatilis Familia: CYPRINIDAE Leuciscuscephalusorientalis (NORDMANN,1840) KeytotheIdentificationofFishintheRiverMert Synonym: Squaliusturcicus FILIPPI,1865 1. Ventralfinsunitedintoadisk(Figure8.1) .........................GOBIIDAE................................2 Terratypica: Abhaziya Ventralfinsnotunitedintoadisk(Figure8.2) Localname: Tatl›suKefali ..........................................................................3 TaxonomicCharacteristics 2. Theheadislarge.Therearetwodorsalfins.Second ThegeneralbodyshapeofL.c.orientalis isshownin dorsalfinislongerthanfirstandlaterallineis Figure3.1,bodyratios,accordingtotheresults,are absent..........................Gobius(Neogobius)fluviatilis giveninTable1.1,andthemeristiccharacteristicsofthe 3. Barbelsin3pairs.Maximumbodydepthis5times fishareshowninTable1.2. morethanstandardlength.......COBITIDAE..........4 Bodyismoderatelyelongate;mouthislargein Generallymouthwithoutbarbelsormaximumin2 terminalpositionwithoutbarbels.Pharyngealteethare pairs.Maximumbodydepthis5timessmallerthan biserial2.5-5.2(Figure3.2).Laterallineisclearlycurved standardlength...............CYPRINIDAE................5 toabdomen.Scalesareofmoderatesizewithsmalldark spots.Posterioredgeofdorsalfinissmooth.Analfinis 4. Bodyiscylindrical.Laterallinecomplete.Scalesare convex.Thecolouratbacklightenstowardlaterals. verysmall.Eyesaresmallandonthetopofthehead. Ventralsideissilvery-white.Peritoneumisblack. Caudalfinlightlyrecessed.................................... ............................. Orthrias(Noemacheilus)angorae 65 AnInvestigationonFishFaunaoftheRiverMert(Samsun) Figure3.1. Viewfromtherightsideof Leuciscuscephalusorientalis Figure3.2. PharyngealteethofLeuciscuscephalusorientalis (x10) Table1.1. BodyratiosofL.c.orientalis S.L./B.D. S.L./H.L. H.L./E.D. H.L./I.D. I.D./E.D. Min.-Max. 4.09–4.95 3.33–4.03 3.43-5.89