| dc.description.abstract | Striped marlin Kajikia audax are distributed throughout tropical, subtropical and
temperate waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, between 45°N and 35-40°S of
latitude. In Mexico it is the most important specie for the recreational fishing,
however the knowledge of its biology is scarce. The objective of this study was
estimate the age and describe the individual growth of the striped marlin caught by
the recreational fishing fleet off Mazatlan coast, Sinaloa. During October 2002 to
December 2004, 315 organisms were weighed and measured, and on 310
specimens the 4th dorsal fin spine was collected. The lower jaw-fork length (LJFL)
ranged from 148 to 236 cm. The differences in the size by sex were not significant
(Kolmogorov-Smirnov; p>0.05). The total weight (TW) ranged from 12 to 77 kg, and
a potential model was fitted to the relationship TW-LJFL (TW=4e-5*LJFL3.05)
showing allometric growth (b=3); as there were no differences (ANCOVA; p>0.05) in
this relationship between sexes. The relationship LJFL-total radius of the spine (RT)
was significant (r2=0.93, LJFL=98.71*RT0.39), therefore this structure is adequate to
describe growth. Up to twelve growth marks (GM) were observed in the spine
sections. The average percent error was 3.3% y the coefficient of variation was
4.3%, which indicates high accuracy in the counting of the GM between readers.
Both the monthly percentage of spines with opaque edge as the marginal increment
ratio showed that the deposition of the GM is annual. The length at age was backcalculated
and the individual growth for sex was described using, the von Bertalanffy
growth model. No significant differences were detected in the growth curves by
sexes (ARSS; F3,20=0.104; p=0.95). The model growth parameters for pooled data
were estimated (L∞=207 cm, k=0.45, t0=-0.17 years). The specie has a rapid growth,
reaching over 70% of the asymptotic length at 3 years of age. | |
