Living in Lake Dam Keban Luciobarbus esocinus Heckel, 1843 age determination of comparative fin rays

In this study, it was aimed to do comparative age determination from fin rays of L. esocinus Heckel, 1843 living in Keban Dam Lake. For this purpose, 80 fish samples were obtained from Keban Dam Lake between March 2011 and December 2011. The study was conducted in Firat University Fisheries Faculty Laboratories. Firstly, weight and length of fish samples were determined. Then, bony structures of dorsal, anal, right pelvic, left pelvic, right pectoral and left pectoral fins were removed, cleaned and sectioned for age determination. These sectioned samples were enumerated and kept in plastic bags in order to examine under the binocular microscope. Age rings in each sample were read three times in a day intervals.In conclusion, the most reliable bony fin ray for age determination in L. esocinus from Keban Dam Lake was found dorsal fin ray with high cohesion, low average error and a low coefficient of variation. In addition, it was found that the average age of the dorsal fin ray was the closest to the overall average age. The clearest age rings was also observed in the dorsal fin rays. It was followed by pectoral fin ray and right pelvic fin ray respectively. According to this study, it was recommended to use the dorsal fin ray for the age determination in studies related with L. esocinus.Key words: Luciobarbus esocinus, Keban Dam Lake, Fin rays, Comparative age determination.