Life-history Traits for Eight Fish Species of the Largest Greek Lake (Lake Trichonis)

The knowledge of the life-history traits of commercial and data-deficient fish species is essential for assessing, among others, their status, as well as for the formulation of conservation measures and the implementation of sustainable managerial decisions. In the present study, growth parameters were estimated for eight fish species of the Lake Trichonis (Greece): Atherina boyeri, Cobitis trichonica, Leucos panosi, Luciobarbus albanicus, Rhodeus meridionalis, Salaria economidisi, Scardinius acarnanicus and Tropidophoxinellus hellenicus. The mortality and exploitation status were estimated for the five most exploited ones (A. boyeri, L. panosi, L. albanicus, S. acarnanicus and T. hellenicus). For four of the above-mentioned species (C. trichonica, R. meridionalis, S. economidisi and T. hellenicus), life history data were provided for the first time. A. boyeri (a commercially important and the most exploited species in the lake) and T. hellenicus (a discarded species) exhibited the highest values of fishing mortality, followed in descending order by L. albanicus, L. panosi and S. acarnanicus. The information produced in the present study can be incorporated in ecosystem-based models aiming at the establishment of management and conservation measures at both species level and ecosystem level.