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Age and growth of Lessepsian rabbitfish from the eastern Mediterranean
Author(s) -
Bariche M.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of applied ichthyology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1439-0426
pISSN - 0175-8659
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2004.00619.x
Subject(s) - fishery , biology , otolith , fishing , mediterranean sea , mediterranean climate , population , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , demography , sociology
Summary Rabbitfish are currently an important component of the eastern Mediterranean inshore fishery. This study estimates age and calculates growth of Siganus rivulatus and S. luridus from the Lebanese coastal waters based on otolith analysis and compares results with available data from different geographical locations. Annual periodicity of alternating zones was confirmed for S. rivulatus , in which one opaque and one translucent zone were observed to deposit each year, but not for S. luridus . Both species appear to have a maximum lifespan of 6 years. The von Bertalanffy growth functions were L t = 318.9(1 − e −0.225( t +1.307) ) for S. rivulatus and L t = 274.9(1 − e −0.330( t +1.039) ) for S. luridus and length–weight relationships were estimated as for S. rivulatus and for S. luridus . The rabbitfish catches of the Lebanese fishery consist mainly of individuals which have not reached their first maturity. Rabbitfish from the eastern Mediterranean coastal waters appear to grow rapidly most of the year and are thus able to maintain relatively important population size despite intensive fishing pressure.