Estimation of growth parameters of five fish species (Actinopterygii) caught in the central Amazon

Abstract

For some tropical fishes, the information on growth parameters is still scarce, and few or no records are available in FishBase. Therefore, the objective of this study was to estimate the growth curves for Brycon amazonicus (Spix et Agassiz, 1829), Piaractus brachypomus (Cuvier, 1818), Prochilodus nigricans Spix et Agassiz, 1829, Semaprochilodus insignis (Jardine, 1841), and Semaprochilodus taeniurus (Valenciennes, 1821), and to build the auximetric plots for each of the families to which these species belong: Characidae, Prochilodontidae, and Serrasalmidae. Samples were obtained from commercial catches landed in the Port of Manaus. Growth parameters were estimated using the Electronic Length Frequency Analysis (ELEFAN) routine of the Length Frequency Distribution Analysis (LFDA) program. Twenty-six sets of growth parameters were thus estimated, and 66 further sets were located in the literature and FishBase. Prochilodontidae and Serrasalmidae showed a strong inverse relation between the variables composing the auximetric plots.

The Growth Parameters and Mortalities of Five Species of Synodonits in the Lower River Benue at Makurdi

“…A study conducted by [20] revealed that the differences in the maximum size of Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus in the Lower Nun River was due to high fishing pressure, environmental pollution and degradation. [10] observed that the variations in the growth parameters of some of the species sampled in the central Amazon appeared to accord with the high degree of environmental variations in the ecosystem. The smaller sizes obtained in this river could also be attributed to fishing pressure and environmental pollution and degradation.…”

“…It also facilitates the assessment of production, stock size and recruitment to adult stock [9] . According to [10] , fish growth can be used to measure characteristics of fish stocks, species and is fundamental to the understanding of the life histories of demographics, ecosystem dynamics and sustainability of fisheries. The Walford plot analysis for fish is used to determine the Von Bertalanffy growth parameters for different sexes of fishery stock in a given body of water.…”

“…The Walford plot analysis for fish is used to determine the Von Bertalanffy growth parameters for different sexes of fishery stock in a given body of water. However, [10] observed that information on growth parameters of many tropical fishes were either scarce, few or no records were available at all in Fishbase. There are no published works on the determination of true asymptotic length (L ∞ ) of Synodontis species in this River.…”