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Fishes
Special Issues
Age Determination of Aquatic Animals
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Age Determination of Aquatic Animals

A Special Issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2026) | Viewed by 5864

Editor

Dr. Raouf W. Kilada

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Adjunct Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Brunswick (Saint John), Saint John, NB E2L 4L5, Canada
Interests: age; growth; fisheries; fish; bivalves; crustacea

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Understanding the age metrics of marine organisms is crucial in the estimation of baseline parameters such as growth rate, population age structure, mortality rate, productivity and recruitment.

The age of most aquatic species can often be determined by examining the growth bands preserved in calcified structures. These structures include, for example, bones, scales and otoliths in fish, statoliths in cephalopods, ossicles in echinoids (i.e., sea urchins), ophiuroids (i.e., brittle stars) and asteroids (sea stars), and shells in bivalves. In crustaceans, the number of growth bands in gastric ossicles may be used to determine the age of this group. Before applying the age information provided by these hard structures, validation (one band indicates one year of age) must be conducted.

Fishes invites interested scientists to submit manuscripts that are relevant to this topic. The manuscripts will be reviewed carefully in a short period of time so that all accepted papers can be published in this Special Issue.

Dr. Raouf W. Kilada
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fishes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • age
  • validation
  • growth
  • shells
  • cephalopod
  • echinoderms
  • crustaceans
  • fish

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2108 KB  
Article
Age Structure, Growth Parameters, and Otolith Traits of Two Species of the Genus Trachurus in the Central Mediterranean
by Vasiliki Nikiforidou, Chryssi Mytilineou, Vasileios Xenikakis and Aikaterini Anastasopoulou
Fishes 2026, 11(1), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes11010053 - 15 Jan 2026
Viewed by 1269
Abstract
The Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) and the Mediterranean horse mackerel (T. mediterraneus) are two commercially important species whose biological traits remain insufficiently studied in the Central Mediterranean Sea. This study examines their age, growth pattern, and, for the [...] Read more.
The Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) and the Mediterranean horse mackerel (T. mediterraneus) are two commercially important species whose biological traits remain insufficiently studied in the Central Mediterranean Sea. This study examines their age, growth pattern, and, for the first time, otolith morphology in both species in the Eastern Ionian Sea. The intercept of the weight–length relationship was a = 0.00599 (95% CI = 0.0050–0.0072) for T. trachurus and a = 0.00801 (95% CI = 0.0072–0.0089) for T. mediterraneus, and the slope was b = 3.121 (95% CI: 3.058–3.183) and b = 2.994 (95% CI: 2.957–3.031), respectively. Age was estimated by counting annual growth increments, visible as alternating opaque and clear bands along the axis of the left sagittal otolith from the core to the posterior margin. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated as L∞ = 34.65 cm, k = 0.31 year−1, and t0= −1.11 years for T. trachurus and L∞ = 35.98 cm, k = 0.23 year−1, and to = −1.60 years for T. mediterraneus. Otolith morphometrics showed significantly higher values (ANOVA, p-value < 0.05) in T. mediterraneus for all morphometric variables, except one, indicating larger and wider otoliths than those of T. trachurus, which can be a tool to distinguish the two species. A strong correlation was observed between the total length of the body and otolith metrics in both species. This study enhanced our scientific knowledge on the studied species’ life history traits and provides information for further ecological and stock assessment studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Age Determination of Aquatic Animals)
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15 pages, 4881 KB  
Article
Comparative Demography of Five Holocentridae Species from American Samoa
by Cassandra Pardee, Domingo Ochavillo and Brett M. Taylor
Fishes 2025, 10(11), 596; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10110596 - 20 Nov 2025
Viewed by 955
Abstract
This study provides the first insights into the age-based life histories of five Holocentridae species (soldierfish and squirrelfish) from American Samoa: Myripristis amaena, M. berndti, M. murdjan, Sargocentron spiniferum, and S. tiere. Examination of sagittal otoliths revealed that all [...] Read more.
This study provides the first insights into the age-based life histories of five Holocentridae species (soldierfish and squirrelfish) from American Samoa: Myripristis amaena, M. berndti, M. murdjan, Sargocentron spiniferum, and S. tiere. Examination of sagittal otoliths revealed that all five species exhibited long lifespans with maximum estimated ages of 17 to 40 years. The Holocentridae complex exhibited a consistent slow-turnover strategy characterized by long lifespans, asymptotic growth profiles, and low rates of instantaneous total mortality (Z ≤ 0.20 yr−1). Reproductive information, derived from histological examination of gonads, indicated that the onset of maturity for all five species occurred later than is typical for many demersal reef fishes. This pattern was exemplified by female S. tiere, which reached 50% maturity at age 6.5 years. The size at maturity occurred between 65% and 91% of asymptotic length for all species. All species demonstrated a primary spawning season during the austral summer (October–February). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Age Determination of Aquatic Animals)
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27 pages, 10772 KB  
Article
Preliminary Assessment of Age and Growth of the Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarkii [Girard, 1852] in the River Nile in Egypt by Direct and Indirect Methods
by Mohamed Saeed, Raouf Kilada, Sahar Mehanna, Abdelhalim Saad and Magdy Khalil
Fishes 2025, 10(9), 453; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10090453 - 5 Sep 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2704
Abstract
The red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) is an exceptionally invasive species introduced into the Egyptian freshwater ecosystems in the 1980s for aquaculture purposes. Despite its ecological and economic significance, the age distribution of this species has not been assessed properly using [...] Read more.
The red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) is an exceptionally invasive species introduced into the Egyptian freshwater ecosystems in the 1980s for aquaculture purposes. Despite its ecological and economic significance, the age distribution of this species has not been assessed properly using an accurate method. This study is the first to validate the use of growth band counts in the mesocardiac ossicles as a direct technique for age determination in P. clarkii using 166 known-age individuals reared under various temperature regimes. The findings confirm that band counts represent age rather than number of molts. Field comparisons between northern (Giza) and southern (Aswan) Nile populations revealed maximum longevities of six and seven years, respectively, using direct methods, while indirect size–frequency analysis underestimated age at three years. Growth rates were higher at 25 °C compared to 32 °C, both in the lab and in situ. Males matured at larger sizes than females, though age at sexual maturity averaged one year in both regions. This study demonstrates the superiority of direct aging over traditional indirect aging methods, offering critical insights for managing crayfish populations and ensuring sustainable fisheries in the River Nile in Egypt. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Age Determination of Aquatic Animals)
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