Validation of age and growth estimates using thin otolith sections from the purple wrasse, Notolabrus fucicola

2003 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme P. Ewing ◽  
Dirk C. Welsford ◽  
Alan R. Jordan ◽  
Colin Buxton

The age of Notolabrus fucicola from the east and southeast coasts of Tasmania was estimated from counts of opaque (transmitted light) growth zones in thin transverse sections of sagittal otoliths. The position of the first annulus was validated through the otolith radii of known-age juveniles. Marginal increment analysis was performed by examining the growing edge of otoliths over 2 years. This showed that opaque zones were formed annually and were consistently deposited from late September to early December (spring season), which is coincident with annual increases in somatic growth and water temperature during this season. A criterion was developed to ensure accurate age estimation for individuals sampled during the time of year when deposition of opaque material was incomplete or not apparent. The maximum age estimated was 20 years and the relationship between fork length and age was described by the von Bertalanffy growth function (L∞ = 368 mm, K = 0.116 and t0 = –1.87 for males and L∞ = 385.7 mm, K = 0.109 and t0 = –1.96 for females). The clarity of increment structure and rigorous validation protocol that was adopted minimised the risks associated with using marginal increment analysis to validate the periodicity of increment formation and it provided robust age and growth estimates for N. fucicola in Tasmanian waters.

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Hsun Hsu ◽  
Shoou Jeng Joung ◽  
Robert E. Hueter ◽  
Kwang Ming Liu

This study estimated age and growth of the largest extant fish, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) by counting vertebral band pairs from 92 specimens comprising 43 males (2.68–9.88 m total length [TL]), 30 females (1.60–7.02 m TL), and 19 unsexed individuals (2.83–6.67 m TL) taken by Taiwanese commercial fisheries during 2001–06. Growth band pairs up to 25 and 42 were counted for a 6.38-m TL female and a 9.88-m TL male, respectively. Using marginal increment ratio and centrum edge analysis, band pairs were postulated to be formed twice a year. The two-parameter von Bertalanffy growth function provided the best fit without significant differences between sexes. Growth parameters were calculated for both sexes as L∞ = 16.80 m TL, k = 0.037 year–1; annual band pair formation would modify these parameters to L∞ = 15.34 m TL, k = 0.021 year–1. Using data reported in another study for 50% size at maturity for males (8.1 m TL), and the largest immature and smallest mature females (8.7 and 9.6 m TL, respectively) in the Indo-Pacific, these TLs converted to ages at maturity of 17 years for males and 19–22 years for females. The longevity was calculated to be 80.4 years.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Duarte-Neto ◽  
Fábio M. Higa ◽  
Rosangela P. Lessa

The purpose of the current study was to supply the first information on age and growth for Thunnus obesus caught in the equatorial south-western Atlantic using dorsal spines, an approach that has been successfully employed for ageing tuna species. The study was conducted using a multi-model inference based on information theory for back-calculated and observed length-at-age data. Uncertainty associated with the parameter estimation was verified and results were compared to other accounts on the species, considering both the statistical and methodological contexts. Samples were collected in Natal city (Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil) from February 1999 to January 2000, of tuna vessels and from surveys, aimed at providing information on the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the area around São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago. Validation using marginal increment indicated that one ring is deposited per year. Mean length-at-age ranged of 54.3 to 177.5 cm (fork length) for ages 1 to 9 years. Von Bertalanffy, Richards, and Gompertz models were considered suitable for the bigeye tuna. Hence, the model-averaged asymptotic length ¯L∞ was estimated. The averaged model generated in the present study by back-calculation was considered appropriate for describing the growth of T. obesus.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0262281
Author(s):  
Virginia R. Shervette ◽  
Jesús M. Rivera Hernández

Ensuring the accuracy of age estimation in fisheries science through validation is an essential step in managing species for long-term sustainable harvest. The current study used Δ14 C in direct validation of age estimation for queen triggerfish Balistes vetula and conclusively documented that triggerfish sagittal otoliths provide more accurate and precise age estimates relative to dorsal spines. Caribbean fish samples (n = 2045) ranged in size from 67–473 mm fork length (FL); 23 fish from waters of the southeastern U.S. (SEUS) Atlantic coast ranged in size from 355–525 mm FL. Otolith-based age estimates from Caribbean fish range from 0–23 y, dorsal spine-based age estimates ranged from 1–14 y. Otolith-based age estimates for fish from the SEUS ranged from 8–40 y. Growth function estimates from otoliths in the current study (L∞ = 444, K = 0.13, t0 = -1.12) differed from spined-derived estimates in the literature. Our work indicates that previously reported maximum ages for Balistes species based on spine-derived age estimates may underestimate longevity of these species since queen triggerfish otolith-based ageing extended maximum known age for the species by nearly three-fold (14 y from spines versus 40 y from otoliths). Future research seeking to document age and growth population parameters of Balistes species should strongly consider incorporating otolith-based ageing in the research design.


2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albuquerque Cristiano Queiroz de ◽  
Agnaldo Silva Martins ◽  
Nilamon de Oliveira Leite Junior ◽  
Julio Neves de Araújo ◽  
Alan Marques Ribeiro

Dorsal spines (n=649) of the queen triggerfish Balistes vetula were collected between 1997 to 1999 at the central coast of Brazil and used to evaluate fish growth. The marginal increment analysis validated that 1 increment was formed annually (n=476), with minimum values observed at the summer, and coinciding with the maximum proportion of translucent growth bands. Fish's maximum fork length and age were 460 mm and 14 years respectively. The parameters of the von Bertalanffy function were: Fl∞ = 441.3 mm, K = 0.14 and T0= -1.8. Weight gain by year ranged from about 110 g yr-1 for age 5 to about 30 g yr-1 for age 14. Compared to other studies, B. vetula growth in the Central coast of Brazil was slow, which could be related to the influence of the oligotrophic water from Brazil current. Our results indicate that B. vetula's fisheries in the Central coast of Brazil until 1999 have caught mostly adult individuals over the sexual maturation lenght, 60% of them with ages from 6 to 8 yr.


2015 ◽  
Vol 96 (7) ◽  
pp. 1395-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoou-Jeng Joung ◽  
Chien-Chi Chen ◽  
Kwang-Ming Liu ◽  
Tzu-Chi Hsieh

The age and growth of Kwangtung skate, Dipturus kwangtungensis, in the waters off northern Taiwan were estimated from 422 specimens collected between July 2006 and July 2008 at the Tashi fishing market in north-eastern Taiwan. The sexes-combined relationship between total length (TL) and centrum diameter (D) was estimated as follows: TL = 14.11D0.888 (N = 411, r2 = 0.94, P < 0.001). Growth band pairs (comprised of translucent and opaque bands) in vertebrae were determined to form once annually, based on the centrum edge analysis. Up to 14 band pairs were found for both sexes. The von Bertalanffy growth function (VBGF), two-parameter VBGF, the Robertson function, and the Gompertz function were used to fit the observed length-at-age data. The Akaike information criterion corrected indicated that the Gompertz function best fit the observed length at age data. Sex-specific growth functions were not significantly different; the sexes-combined growth parameters were estimated as follows: asymptotic length (L∞) = 96.7 cm TL, growth coefficient (kG) = 0.144 year−1 and constant (t0) = 5.45 year (N = 364, P < 0.01).


1983 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 451 ◽  
Author(s):  
TM Berra ◽  
PL Cadwallader

The age and growth of Australian grayling were studied in 1203 individuals collected from the Tambo River, Victoria, between January and November 1979. Scales from 667 grayling were examined. The scale method of age determination was validated by the analysis of seasonal changes in the pattern of scale growth and by correspondence between ages inferred from length-frequency distributions and ages determined by scale readings. One annulus is formed on the scale by October. Most (88%) grayling belonged to the 1+ and 2+ age-classes; fish aged 3+ and 4+ made up 11% of the collection, and fish aged 5+ less than 1%. Size increased from January until May; growth ceased during winter and resumed in September. There was no difference in growth between the sexes. The largest grayling collected was a female of 253 mm fork length (Lf). The overall length-weight relationship was W = 2 715 × 10-6Lf3 2764. The relationship between total length (Lt) and Lf was Lt = 0.93 16 + 1.0742 Lf, and between standard length (Ls) and Lf was Ls = 0.8007 + 0.9095 Lf The overall ratio of males to females was 56 : 44.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-102
Author(s):  
S. K. Karna ◽  
D. K. Sahoo ◽  
S. Panda

An attempt was made to study the length‐weight relationship (LWR), growth and length at 50% maturity (L50) of Eleuthronema tetradactylus (Sahala) in Chilika lagoon, which will helpful for the future management of the stocks as well as the lagoon. For LWR study, a total of 255 fish specimens collected from April 2008 to May 2009 of which fork length (FL) and body weight (BW) were measured to the nearest 0.1cm and 0.01g respectively. The equation, y = 4E‐06x3.115 found from the study where the computed condition factor (a), growth coefficient (b) and regression coefficient (r2) were 4E‐06, 3.115 and 0.996 respectively. In total, 3356 number of specimen measured to study growth of the species. The estimated growth parameters found from von Bertalanffy Growth Function (VBGF) i.e., Linf(cm), K, and t0 were 78.1cm, 0.15, and ‐0.47 respectively. Logistic equations used to estimate the length at 50% maturity (L50) of a total of 68 specimens, sampled from April 2008 to May 2009. The estimated L50 was 315mmFL.


1955 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Partlo

Seasonal and regional variations in the abundance of albacore during the 1949, 1950 and 1951 British Columbia fishing seasons suggest that exploitable stocks occurred in increasingly northerly areas during July and August and in more southerly areas during late August, September and early October. Catches were composed of four length-groups with average lengths of 54.3, 62.9, 71.7 and 81.9 centimetres. These groups were sometimes fairly discrete, but usually overlapped broadly, so that it was necessary to plot frequency distributions on probability paper in order to choose the best points of separation.Concentric marks on the centra of vertebrae were used as indicators of the age of the fish. The relationship of body length to vertebral radius is rectilinear. There is good agreement between the estimated average length and standard deviation in length of the fish when grouped by length and when grouped by vertebral ring number. The ages indicated for the four groups are III, IV, V and VI; however the first vertebral ring is somewhat less clear than the others and if it were discounted these ages would be reduced by one year. The fish whose vertebrae were examined had almost completed a year's growth.The length-weight relationship is expressed by the formula, log W = −4.912 + 3.13 log L, where W is the weight in kilograms and L is the fork length in centimetres.


Author(s):  
O. Tariche ◽  
J.G. Pajuelo ◽  
J.M. Lorenzo ◽  
A. Luque ◽  
J.A. Gonzalez

The grouper Cephalopholis taeniops is a carnivorous fish of the Cape Verde coastal marine ecosystem. Nothing is known regarding the age and growth of this epinephelid. In this study, the age and growth of C. taeniops was investigated by annual growth increment counts from 2804 specimens (7–51 cm total length) collected between January 2005 and December 2011. Whole otoliths underestimated the age indicated in sections by approximately 70%; therefore, sectioned otoliths were used in this study. A year's growth was represented by one opaque and one translucent ring. There was no apparent time lag from the start of the increase in the seawater temperature and the beginning of the formation of the opaque ring. The formation of the translucent rings coincided with a decrease in surface seawater temperature. Cephalopholis taeniops is a slow-growing and long-lived species, with ages of up to 20 years recorded. The seasonalized von Bertalanffy growth function was the best fitted among the four models tested, with an Akaike weight higher than 0.99. Growth was described by the seasonalized von Bertalanffy growth function as follows: L∞ = 54.26 cm, k = 0.135 year−1, t0 = −0.853 year, C = 0.439 and ts = 0.667.


2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (12) ◽  
pp. 1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian M. Hughes ◽  
John Stewart ◽  
Benjamin W. Kendall ◽  
Charles A. Gray

The growth and reproductive biology of the commercially and recreationally important sparid fish, tarwhine (Rhabdosargus sarba), was examined from the coastal waters of New South Wales (NSW), south-eastern Australia. Previous research on this species in other parts of the world has yielded conflicting results concerning its growth and reproductive biology. Age estimates were made by counting opaque zones in otolith sections. The method was validated by marking the otoliths of captive fish with alizarin complexone, and also by marginal increment analyses using otoliths from wild-caught fish. Both sexes grew at a similar rate. Von Bertalanffy growth function parameters were: L∞ = 26.40 ± 0.40 cm fork length (FL), k = 0.39 ± 0.02 year–1 and to = –0.56 ± 0.09 years. The maximum estimated age was 16.5 years. Spawning occurred from May to August with a peak in July. Both sexes matured at a similar size (L50 = 19.44 ± 0.15 cm FL), which was larger than the current minimum legal length in NSW. Ovotestes were identified in adult tarwhine and were confirmed by histological analyses. Results of this study provided evidence that tarwhine are likely to be rudimentary hermaphrodites in eastern Australia and are more similar in growth rate, maximum size/age, and reproductive biology to tarwhine from Western Australia than those from other parts of the world.


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