Growth, mortality, and exploitation rates of the mantis shrimp <i>Erugosquilla massavensis</i> ( <i>Kossman</i> , <i>1880</i> ) (Malacostraca: Stomatopoda) in Iskenderun Bay, north-eastern Mediterranean of Türkiye

Lessepsian Erugosquilla massavensis is one of the three Stomatopod species reported on the Levantine coast of Türkiye. Its natural habitat is the Red Sea and it is the first Red Sea stomatopod species reported from the Mediterranean. This study aims to determine the morphometric relationships, growth parameters, sex ratio, age, mortality, and exploitation rates of non-native E. massavensis in the north-eastern Mediterranean. Samples were collected monthly by commercial trawl surveys between September 2016 and March 2017 in Iskenderun Bay. Relationships between the carapace length (CL)–total length (TL) and the total length (TL)–total weight (TW) were estimated. Negative allometric growth was observed between the CL–TL and TL–TW relationship for females, males, and all. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters (vBGP) were found L∞ = 155.4 mm, K = 0.520 year−1, t0 = −0.199, ø′ = 4.099 for females, L∞ = 157.5 mm, K = 0.600 year−1, t0 = −0.127, ø′ = 4.173 for males. This research provided the first-ever data on the vBGP of E. massavensis. The study found that both sexes had a higher fisheries mortality coefficient than natural mortality (Z = 2.01, M = 0.71, F = 1.3) and were exploited (E = 0.65).