age and growth in a temperate euryhaline notothenioid, eleginops maclovinus from the falkland islands

Abstract

falkland islands' mullet (eleginops maclovinus) were aged successfully using whole sagittal otoliths from 1403 individuals. marginal increment analysis indicated that one opaque and one translucent zone were laid down annually. unvalidated daily ring counts confirmed what was thought to be the first translucent zone. the translucent zones were found to form earlier in juveniles than in adults. juveniles over winter in the creeks and inlets whereas adults are more common in deeper inshore waters where there is a one month lag in the minimum winter water-temperature. the maximum observed age was found to be 11 years. the calculated von bertalanffy growth model (lt=124.41(1−e−0.14/year(t-0.01years))) showed that e. maclovinus is a fast-growing fish, growing on average 10.2 cm/year for the first six years of its life.