ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY AND BIOMETRIC ANALYSIS FOR COMMON CARP Cyprinus carpio L., 1758: A CASE STUDY FROM BIȚINA POND (ILFOV COUNTY, ROMANIA)

Abstract

Weight-length relationships (WLRs), Fulton’s K condition factor and the size structure were investigated for common carp Cyprinus carpio (Linne, 1758) collected from Bițina 3 Pond – a freshwater ecosystem used for recreational fishing, located 40 km away from Bucharest. Negative allometric growth was estimated for common carp as: TW = 0.0563xTL^2.7111; TW = 0.2301 x SL^2.4175 (N = 30, November 2021). The values for condition factor K ranged between 1.44 and 2.67. Water samples were collected from 7 sampling points (SP) and were subjected to physico-chemical characterization. Consequently, it was determined the following parameters: pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total hardness (TH), chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphate phosphorus (P-PO₄^3-) and nitrogen pollutant species: nitrate nitrogen (N-NO₃^-), nitrite nitrogen (N-NO₂^-) and ammonium-nitrogen (N-NH₄⁺). Total hardness values present very significant correlation with conductivity (r=0.7305***) and distinct significant correlation with pH (r=0.5765**). The results indicated that water meets the requirements for optimal development of aquatic organisms. This paper provides novel information on weight-length relationships, Fulton’s K condition factor along with environmental parameters for Cyprinus carpio collected from freshwater ponds designed for sport fishing.