Comparative age determination in Barbus grypus Heckel, 1843 populations living in Keban and Karakaya dam lakes

In this study, comparative age determination in Barbus grypus Heckel, 1843 populations living in Keban and Karakaya Dam Lakes was aimed. For this purpose, a total of 179 fish samples (90 fish from Keban Dam Lake and 89 fish from Karakaya Dam Lake) were obtained between January 2010 and December 2010. The study was carried out in Fırat University Fisheries Faculty Fish Anatomy Laboratory. Length and weight of the fish samples were determined. Dorsal fin rays, vertebrae, scale, left and right otoliths, left and right operculum which were used for age determination were removed, cleaned and labeled. Then the bony structures were examined under the binocular microscope. Age rings on the each bony structure were counted three times with an interval of one day.Age groups, the number of individual in each age group and their % distributions were given in Tables and the comparison of age compliances between bony structures were expressed in Figures. In compared bony structures, the more compliance was found between the left and right otoliths, and the least compliance was found between scale and right operculum in both dam lakes. Maximum age difference between compared bony structures was found as 3. The highest compliance in age reading with three replicates was observed on dorsal fin ray (87.78% for the Keban Dam Lake and 83.15% for the Karakaya Dam Lake). The standard deviation value calculated from all readings belong to dorsal fin ray was found lower than that of all other bony structures. In addition, the difference of mean value obtained from all readings belong to dorsal fin ray from all readings belong to the all bony structures was found smaller than that of the other bony structures. For this reasons, it was concluded that dorsal fin ray was the most suitable bony structure for age determination in Barbus grypus Heckel, 1843 population.Keywords: Barbus grypus, Keban Dam Lake, Karakaya Dam Lake, Comparative age determination.