Abundance and diversity of Clupeidae species in Mazandaran and Golestan coastal waters, north Iran

As part of the identification and distribution mapping of Clupeid fish in southern Caspian Sea, we studied abundance and species diversity of the fish in Mazandaran and Golestan Coastal waters during August-April 1999 to 2001. In the 336 specimens studied, four species were identified including Alosa braschnikowi, Alosa caspia, Alosa saposchnikowi and Alosa kessleri. The most abundant species was Alosa braschnikowii comprising 84.4% of the individuals and Alosa kessleri was the least abundant comprising 3.2% of the sample. We also traced an increasing trend in abundance of Alosa braschnikowii from east to west such that 43.8% of the fish found in Golestan Province waters and 56.2% in Mazandaran Province waters. The highest fork length and weight was recorded as 395 mm and 760.3 grams respectively for Alosa braschnikowi and the lowest was recorded for Alosa caspia with 110 mm and 109 grams respectively. In Alosa braschnikowi male were dominant and relative abundance of male and female i.....