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Determining the population parameters of herbivorous fishes facilitates our understanding of their overall effects on ecosystems. However, this has not been successful with species such as Kyphosus bigibbus that are difficult to age using otoliths. In this study, we estimated the age, growth and age at sexual maturity of K. bigibbus off the west coast of Kyushu, Japan, using fish scales and otoliths. Scales were found unreliable because they caused underestimation of the age of fish older than 5 years, whereas otoliths were reliable when used with our improved otolith-sectioning methodology. The maximum age and fork length were 46 years and 574mm for females and 32 years and 506mm for males. According to the von Bertalanffy growth curves, females became slightly larger than males, and both sexes showed nearly asymptotic fork lengths after 10 years. The age at 50% sexual maturity for females and males was 3.2 and 1.9 years respectively, which is extremely early considering their maximum age. The year-class composition of K. bigibbus suggests that its recruitment may have increased rapidly since 1999, following noticeable losses of kelp forests in this region. Our findings will contribute to the understanding of algal forest ecosystems and advancement of fish ageing studies.

marine and freshwater research

Using optimised otolith sectioning to determine the age, growth and age at sexual maturity of the herbivorous fish Kyphosus bigibbus: with a comparison to using scales