Age, Growth and Population Structure Analyses of the Purpleback Flying Squid Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis in the Northwest Indian Ocean by Beak Microstructure

Abstract

To explore the feasibility of using beak microstructure information to estimate the age of Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis, the microstructures of the upper beaks of individual squid were applied in this work to analyze the ages and growth patterns of squid caught from February–May 2019 and from October–December 2020 in the northwest Indian Ocean. The results indicated that the squid samples in the two years were no older than 9 months, and the samples in 2019 were autumn population and 2020 were spring population. The linear growth model of the autumn population (2019) was the best model for describing the relationship between age and ML, while the power model of the spring population (2020) was the best for describing the relationship between age and ML. The maximum instantaneous growth rate (IGR) and absolute daily growth rate (AGR) values of the spring population were 0.24%/d and 1.09 mm/d, respectively, occurring in squid between 200 and 220 days of age. The maximum IGR and AGR values of the autumn population were 0.69%/d and 1.73 mm/d, respectively, occurring in squid between 200 and 240 days of age. The period from 141–260 days (5–8 months) was considered to correspond to the subadult stage in the whole life history of S. oualaniensis in the Northwest Indian Ocean. The beak microstructure information can be effectively applied to estimate the age of S. oualaniensis individuals.