In this study, the effect of some biotic (total length, sex) and abiotic (sampling station and month) factors on the shell status (soft or hard) of Pontastacus leptodactylus were investigated in a natural crayfish population. The study was carried out in Hirfanlı Dam Lake (Central Anatolia), where one of the most important crayfish harvesting areas of Turkey, with a monthly basis between Jun-2017 and May-2018. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) was used for the

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... tion of the differences between nonparametric variables. A total of 5920 crayfish were checked, ultimately determined as 106 (1.79%) individuals with a soft shell and 5814 (98.21%) hard shell. Shell status was shown statistical difference with total length, stations, and sampling month (p<0.05), while it was no significant by sex group (p>0.05).