Abstract
The edible water frog Pelophylax epeiroticus, distributed mainly in Northwest Greece and utilized commercially as food, was investigated in lake Pamvotida (Ioannina). The objective was to assess aspects of population structure (sex ratio, morphometric characteristics, allometric relationships) and proximate composition of the Epirus water frog (Pelophylax epeiroticus). Commercial samples (31 females and 54 males) were obtained and sex ratio, morphometric characteristics, allometric relationships and proximate composition were assessed. A significantly lower abundance of females was indicated (31 females and 54 males). Body length range was higher in females (females 3.4 mm, males 2.6 mm), whereas total weight range was higher in males (females 45.08 gr, males 48.35 gr). Differences in allometric relationships were indicated between sexes. The high protein (15.93 ± 3.32) and low lipid (0.25 ± 0.13) contents indicated that P. epeiroticus is an excellent food source of high nutritional value. A tree classification algorithm indicated that the principal contributing component for sex classification was dry matter, followed by a proportion of edible flesh and protein content. A predicted future increase in demand for wild-caught individuals requires the use of a suitable management plan, coupled with the development of farming practices aiming to assure the sustainable exploitation of this important resource and alleviate the pressure on its populations.
Subject
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment,Geography, Planning and Development
Reference85 articles.
1. Distribution range of the Epeirus frog Rana epeirotica (Amphibia: Anura) and the composition of the water frog populations in western Greece;Sofianidou;Zool. Anz.,1989
2. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Greece;Valakos,2008
3. Pelophylax Epeiroticus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,2020
4. Discordant genetic and morphological differentiation between three Rana vidibunda populations from northern Greece
5. Taxonomic composition and ploidy level among European water frogs (Anura: Ranidae:Pelophylax) in eastern Hungary
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献