Morphophysiological characteristics of garfish (<i>Belone belone euxini</i> Günter, 1866) during the post-spawning period in the coastal waters of the south-eastern Crimea
The morphophysiological features of the garfish organs (Belone belone euxini Günther, 1866) were examined in the post spawning period. Different sizes of organ indexes wereidentified for the garfish inhabiting Dvuyakornaya and Karadag bays. The analyzed samples were of the same sexual maturity and were caught in bays with the same temperature. The garfish which lived in Dvuyakornaya Bay with rich forage base fed on it constantly even during the spawning period. Consequently, it had 12 % higher fatness index than specimens caught in the Karadag Bay. The garfish that inhabit the Karadag Bay had the gills index increased by 25 %, and the liver index - by 19 %. The increase of the gills and liver mass of fish inhabiting the coast waters of Karadag is likely to result from the pollution and chemical water composition of the Karadag Bay. This bay is characterized by a rapid change of hydrological parameters, the influence of household wastewater from the villages Koktebel and Kurortnoe. Studied male garfish had 2.5 times smaller gonad mass and 12 % smaller liver mass than female specimens that reflects peculiarities of maturation of sexual products of females and males during this period of the annual fish cycle. The revealed differences in the indexes of the examined organs of the garfish can indicate that the local population of this species of fish is relatively resident, taking into account the extended spawning and phytophilic features for attachment of fish eggs. The high sensitivity of garfish gill and liver indexes to environmental pollutants enables using them as sensitive test indicators.