AGE AND GROWTH OF THE SEAROBIN (PRIONOTUS PUNCTATUS) IN BRAZILIAN WATERS

摘要

Age and growth of the searobin, Prionotus punctatus (Bloch, 1797), caught in Brazilian waters was studied by analyzing growth increments in the sagittal otolith. Analysis of marginal band (opaque or translucent) validated annual deposition of otolith growth increments. Two types of error formulations (additive and multiplicative) were used to fit growth models to age-length data. The generic model of Schnute was used as a tool to compare different specific growth models, and the von Bertalanffy model was the most parsimonious. The relationship between k and L_∞ for females and males differed; females grew somewhat more quickly and reached greater lengths than males. L_∞ estimates ranged from 42-51 cm for females and from 36-43 cm for males, k estimates ranged from 0.07-0.14 for females and from 0.06-0.12 for males.