Population dynamics of the Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius, 1798) in North-eastern Mediterranean Sea

Monthly sampling of speckled shrimp was conducted by bottom trawl in the Iskenderun Bay between November 2009 and October 2010. There was a linear relationship between carapace length and total length in males and females (TL = -0.112 + 0.2294*CL; R2 = 0.8298, n = 327) for males, (TL = -0.3918 + 0.2731 * CL; R2 = 0.8919, n = 457) for females, and (TL = -0.378 + 0.2684 * CL; R2=0.8492, n=784) for total individuals. Total length-weight relationships were W=0.0135*TL2.7817 for males, W= 0.0115*TL2.8535 for females, and W=0.0109*TL2.8108 for total individuals. The von Bertalanffy growth constants in length was TL?= 162.75mm, K = 1.39 year–1, t0 = -0.0604 year for males; TL?= 178.40mm, K = 1.51 year-1, t0 = -0.780 year for females; and TL?= 174.14mm, K = 1.47 year-1, t0 = -0.0721 year for total individuals. In this study, the total (Z), natural (M) and fishing (F) mortality coefficient and exploitation rates (E) were determined as 5.39 year-1, 2.39 year-1, 3.00 year-1 and E=0.56 year-1, respectively for all of the obtained individuals.