Age and growth of the alfonsino Beryx splendens Lowe, 1834 from the Macaronesian archipelagos

Reproduction, growth and feeding habits of stout beardfish Polymixia nobilis (Polymixiidae) off the Canary Islands (NE Atlantic)

“…Age assignment was easily determined from whole otoliths, which are characterised by a large dense nucleus with concentric, well‐visible surrounding growth rings. This morphological description is similar to otoliths from Beryciformes such as B. splendens or B. decadactylus , but false rings can appear in these species (Rico et al., 2001; Santamaría et al., 2006). A maximum age of 9 years (21.8 cm FL) was reported in scale readings for Polymixia berndti Gilbert, 1905 from the western Indian Ocean (Kotlyar, 1986), as well as 9 years (18.3 cm FL) for Polymixia yuri Kotlyar, 1982 from Chile (Kotlyar, 1988).…”

Molecular identification and biometric analysis of Macaronesian archipelago stocks of Beryx splendens

“…splendens is a widely distributed species with a long pelagic phase, and this phenomenon of genetic differentiation between samples from geographically close areas has clear implications for the production and maintenance of biodiversity in marine ecosystems. In the Macaronesian archipelagos, this species has a relatively long life-span and slow growth (Rico et al, 2001), and is particularly vulnerable to overfishing. Our results suggest the existence of different stocks in neighboring areas of the Macaronesian archipelagos and could have implications for the management of these stocks in local fisheries.…”

“…Despite the importance of this alfonsino in the Macaronesian archipelagos, there are few reports in the literature that deal with B. splendens in this area. Rico et al (2001) investigated the age and growth of the species and González et al (2003) studied their sex and reproduction in the Macaronesian archipelagos. Also, their feeding habits in the Canary Islands have been recently examined (Dürr and González, 2002).…”

Age and growth of the Japanese silver-biddy, Gerres equulus, in western Kyushu, Japan

“…When the two readings of the same otolith resulted in different age estimates, the slide was considered unreadable (Labropoulou and Papaconstantinou, 2000;Rico et al, 2001). The distance from the focus to the outer margin of each opaque zone (r n ) and the radius of the otolith (R) were measured with an ocular micrometer, along the ventral tip of sulcus acusticus (Fig.…”