Morphometric Aspects and Growth Parameters of the Wedge Clam (Donax trunculus) of the Black Sea, Turkey

Donax trunculus , known as wedge clam, is an Atlantic-Mediterranean bivalve colonizing in fine sand beaches of the upper subtidal zone. Aim of this study is to determine the biometric features of wedge clam in sandy beaches, where they live in high-density, and the relationships between these features. The samples were collected for between March 2014-February 2015 from an unexploited population from Black Sea.  A total of 11045 samples were collected during this study. The shell length, shell width, shell thickness and shell weight, total weight and meat weight were measured. SL changes between 4.5 and 35.5 mm with an average value of 18.6 ± 8.5 mm. Average TW of the total sampling group was 1.2 ± 1.1 g (0.007-4.64). Relationships between SL and SWe, SWi and SWe, ST and SWe were found as SWe=0.0001 SL 2.9659 (R 2 =0.98), SWe=0.0002SWi 3.3938 (R 2 =0.97) and SWe=0.0072ST 2.6968 (R 2 =0.89), respectively.  Average MW of wedge clam was calculated as 0.2 ± 0.2 g (0.001-2.74). The relationships between growth parameters were detailed by cluster analyses (CA), correlation analyses and comparison analyses. Results of this study have an important contribution to the present knowledge on the morphometric aspects and the growth parameters of the wedge clam in the Black Sea.