Age and growth of striped red mullet, Mullus surmuletus, in the shallow waters of Çanakkale

The main purpose of this study was to determine daily age, daily growth rate and hatch date distribution of young of the striped red mullet, Mullus surmuletus Linnaeus, 1758 in Çanakkale shallow waters. Samplings were conducted with a beach seine in 39 different stations between 2006 September to 2007 December. A total of 2468 young of the striped red mullet, with total lengths ranging between 3,7 and 17,6 cm TL were captured. Striped red mullets could be sampled in Summer and Autumn only. In length from 3,7 to 10,9 cm TL 293 pieces ranging from was a young individual age determination. The youngest daily age reading was 34 day whereas the oldest age was 128 days. Individual daily growth rates were estimated between 0,689 ve 1,141, with mean of 0,851 mm day-1. Hatch date distributions extended March to September with relatively higher frequencies between April and June.