research article: a meta-analysis and growth patterns evaluation of the european anchovy, engraulis encrasicolus, in the mediterranean sea

European anchovy (engraulis encrasicolus) is one of the most important commercial species in the mediterranean sea. 4310 studied records were reported from the google scholar database between 1980 and 2022. a search with the keywords engraulis encrasicolus or european anchovy and growth and sex and length and length-weight relationship returned 201 results, of which only research articles were included in the compilation. a total of 20 studies were evaluated in the present study. in the studies on the growth and length-weight relationship of anchovy species, pooled random effect meta-analysis, subgroup analysis, and moderator analysis were carried out. it was found that sex had a significant effect on the mean and standard deviation of length of male and female individuals. the results showed that there was a positive correlation between male and female individuals. the moderator analysis was carried out to examine this high heterogeneity. accordingly, l∞ and k values and b coefficients of male and female individuals in different regions of the mediterranean sea should not be considered equivalent. the results of the study are generalizable to the reviewed studies except for the b coefficients of males and females.