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Abstract: Concentrations of tributyltin (TBT) and its breakdown products, dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MTB), were measured in tissues of male turbot Scophthalmus maximus from the Gulf of Gdańsk (GDA) and the Pomeranian Bay (POM) in the southern Baltic Sea. The fish (n =206) were collected during the spawning seasons of 2008–2009. All specimens were at the same maturity stage and in full breeding condition. The ripe testes of the turbot appeared to be a target tissue for TBT accumulation. We report that TBT is extensively eliminated at the specific whole-body level and that the males from TBT-contaminated location (GDA) reach this specific level at 23–24cm in total length. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The growth data of a commercial aquaculture recirculation system were analysed to investigate the growth performance of reared turbot ( Psetta maxima). Three common growth models (von Bertalanffy, Gompertz and Schnute) were fitted to the growth data documented over a time period of 6 years. To determine the most suitable model, three different criteria were used: (1) the Akaike index criterion, (2) the sum of squared residuals and (3) the average daily deviation between the estimated final weight and the observed final weight. The evaluation of the growth models showed that the Schnute model had the lowest Akaike index, the lowest sum of squared residuals and the lowest daily deviation between estimated and real weight of all tested growth models. The Schnute model produced sigmoid growth curves. The estimated growth coefficients were the most realistic ones in regard to biological interpretation. In contrast, the von Bertalanffy growth model and the Gompertz model estimated inaccurate exponential growth curves and are therefore unable to simulate the growth data as well as the Schnute model. The results indicate that the von Bertalanffy growth model is not the optimal model to simulate the present growth data and that the growth potential of reared turbot has probably not yet been fully exploited in the aquaculture system(s) examined (so far). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess spermatozoa morphometry in turbot, Psetta maxima, a marine flatfish species acclimated to living in the brackish Baltic Sea. The fish were collected from the Gulf of Gdańsk and the Pomeranian Bay, which are characterised by regional differences in abiotic factors. Spermatozoa head and midpiece measurements were significantly larger in males sampled from the Pomeranian Bay than in males from the Gulf of Gdańsk (3.6 ± 0.12 vs 3.1 ± 0.08 μm2 for head area, 7.1 ± 0.14 vs 6.7 ± 0.09 μm for head perimeter, 2.3 ± 0.04 vs 2.1 ± 0.03 μm for head width, 2.0 ± 0.04 vs 1.8 ± 0.02 μm for head length, and 1.1 ± 0.06 vs 1.0 ± 0.03 μm2 for midpiece area). The results of this study suggest that the location and day of sampling have a significant impact on morphometric parameters of turbot spermatozoa in the Baltic Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]