Age and Growth Characteristics of Okamejei kenojei in the West Sea of South Korea According to Coronal Vertebral Microstructure

Abstract

In this study, the growth and age characteristics of Okamejei kenojei in the West Sea of South Korea were examined, and specimens were collected by bottom trawls from January to December 2019. The relationship between disc width (L) and body weight (W) was W = 6.1 × 10−3 L3.40. Age was determined by measuring annuli on the vertebral centrum surface, which forms around June every year. The spawning period was extrapolated from monthly changes of the gonadosomatic index in June–July. The relationship between the vertebral centrum radius and disc width, which was analyzed separately for females and males, was determined as L = 16.159R0.6145 and L = 15.543R0.6851, respectively. Finally, O. kenojei growth, that is, the disc width (L) at a certain age (t), was expressed using the von Bertalanffy growth equation as Lt = 58.70(1 − e−0.21(t+0.12)) for females and Lt = 53.94(1 − e−0.26(t+0.05)) for males. This study provides basic data on the age characteristics of O. kenojei for future research and more efficient fish stock management.