http://scholars.ntou.edu.tw/handle/123456789/10113
Title: | Age and growth of the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) in the north-western Pacific | Authors: | Hua Hsun Hsu Shoou‐Jeng Joung Robert E. Hueter Kwang-Ming Liu |
Keywords: | band pair;Taiwan;vertebra;X-ray | Issue Date: | 10-Oct-2014 | Publisher: | CSIRO Publishing | Journal Volume: | 65 | Journal Issue: | 12 | Start page/Pages: | 1145-1154 | Source: | Marine and Freshwater Research | Abstract: | This study estimated age and growth of the largest extant fish, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) by counting vertebral band pairs from 92 specimens comprising 43 males (2.68–9.88 m total length [TL]), 30 females (1.60–7.02 m TL), and 19 unsexed individuals (2.83–6.67 m TL) taken by Taiwanese commercial fisheries during 2001–06. Growth band pairs up to 25 and 42 were counted for a 6.38-m TL female and a 9.88-m TL male, respectively. Using marginal increment ratio and centrum edge analysis, band pairs were postulated to be formed twice a year. The two-parameter von Bertalanffy growth function provided the best fit without significant differences between sexes. Growth parameters were calculated for both sexes as L∞ = 16.80 m TL, k = 0.037 year–1; annual band pair formation would modify these parameters to L∞ = 15.34 m TL, k = 0.021 year–1. Using data reported in another study for 50% size at maturity for males (8.1 m TL), and the largest immature and smallest mature females (8.7 and 9.6 m TL, respectively) in the Indo-Pacific, these TLs converted to ages at maturity of 17 years for males and 19–22 years for females. The longevity was calculated to be 80.4 years. |
URI: | http://scholars.ntou.edu.tw/handle/123456789/10113 | ISSN: | 1323-1650 | DOI: | 10.1071/mf13330 |
Appears in Collections: | 海洋事務與資源管理研究所 |
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