Open AccessArticle
Otolith Weight as an Estimator of the Age of Seriola lalandi Valenciennes, 1833 (Carangidae), in the Southeastern Pacific
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Magíster Ecología Sistemas Acuáticos Programme, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 3580000, Chile
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Faculdade de Ciências das Pescas, Universidade do Namibe, Moçâmedes 12004, Angola
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Facultad de Recursos Naturales Renovables, Universidad Arturo Prat, Iquique 1110939, Chile
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Instituto de Ciencias Naturales Alexander von Humboldt, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 1270300, Chile
5
Millenium Institute of Oceanography, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 78349, Chile
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 3 April 2022
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Revised: 13 June 2022
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Accepted: 24 June 2022
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Published: 26 June 2022
Simple Summary
The healthy management of fishery resources requires the evaluation of a series of population attributes, such as mortality, fecundity, spawning biomass, recruitment and the age at which fish reach sexual maturity. All these attributes depend on the age of fish. Then, the adequate administration and management of these resources require estimators of fish age. Age is estimated by ring counts in the otoliths, which are hard and calcified structures responsible for the balance of fish; however, this is an expensive and time-consuming methodology. An alternative is the use of otolith weight due to its expected relationship with fish age. Yellowtail king fish is a valuable resource, which arrives at the Chilean northern coast in the summer (southern hemisphere). Many aspects of the biology of this fish, such as age and growth, remain unknown. In this study, we estimated the age and growth using otolith weight, which was measured from fish with a known age, and we calculated parameters explaining growth using four different models. The best model was the seasonalized von Bertalanffy growth function, which takes into account that fish do not grow at the same rate year round.