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Notes on the biology of Spratelloides lewisi (Wongratana, 1983), a recently described species of sprat from Papua New Guinea waters
Author(s) -
Dalzell P.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1987.tb05798.x
Subject(s) - biology , sprat , fishing , population , cape , ecology , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , demography , geography , archaeology , herring , sociology
The biology of two populations of Spratelloides lewisi , one from the Ysabel Passage and the other from Cape Lambert, were studied during 1980 and 1981. A total of 2201 specimens of S. lewisi were collected from a regular sampling programme of tuna bait‐fish catches. The annual length frequency distributions for both populations indicated differences in the full recruitment length and maximum size attained between the two populations. The age and growth of S. lewisi was described at both locations by von Bertalanffy growth curves fitted to length‐at‐age data obtained by reading the daily growth increments of the sagittae. Ovarian maturation data suggested there was no distinct spawning seasonality for this species: spawning was either protracted or markedly reduced over several months. The total annual mortality rates for both populations of S. lewisi were high, but consistent with those of other short‐lived fishes. An estimate of the natural mortality rate for the Ysabel Passage population of S. lewisi by an empirical method corresponded very closely to another estimate based on the relationship between total mortality and fishing effort.