Abstract
This is the first paper to provide detailed information on the age and growth of Trachinotus ovatus. The size of the 244 individuals collected in the Strait of Messina ranged from 2.7 to 30.4 cm in fork length (LF) and 0.31 to 508.6 g in body mass (M). The relationship between these parameters (M - LF) was investigated and showed a good fit. Age estimation based on vertebrae and otoliths yielded similar results, suggesting a maximum age of five years. However, the precision and accuracy tests, such as percentage of agreement (PA), mean coefficient of variation (ACV) and average percent error (APE) indicated that the otolith readings (97.83% PA, 0.54% ACV and 0.38% APE) were more reliable for age estimation than vertebrae readings (82.17% PA, 5.33% ACV and 3.77% APE). The multi-model inference approach allowed us to compare different non-linear growth models. The von Bertalanffy model (L∞=29.139, k=0.496 and t0=−0.347) fitted the length-at-age data best. This species has a relatively rapid growth and an estimated longevity of five to seven years. This information could be used for management and first stock assessment studies on T. ovatus in the Mediterranean Sea.
Highlights
Trachinotus ovatus (Linnaeus, 1758), or pompano, is a pelagic school-forming species of fish (Smith-Vaniz 1986) belonging to the Carangidae family
The size of the 244 individuals collected in the Strait of Messina ranged from 2.7 to 30.4 cm in fork length (LF) and 0.31 to 508.6 g in body mass (M)
Age estimation based on vertebrae and otoliths yielded similar results, suggesting a maximum age of five years
Summary
Trachinotus ovatus (Linnaeus, 1758), or pompano, is a pelagic school-forming species of fish (Smith-Vaniz 1986) belonging to the Carangidae family It is distributed in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean, mainly in tropical and subtropical waters (Smith-Vaniz 1986). The pompano is becoming an important fish resource for local artisanal fisheries (Battaglia et al 2017a), as well as an alternative to former common target species, because its catches have increased alongside the decrease in other common commercial fish, such as Scombridae and Clupeidae (Azzurro et al 2011) This species is considered an interesting candidate for aquaculture because of its fast growth and high flesh quality (Tan et al 2016), as demonstrated by different experimental captivity rearing attempts Additional challenges are slow growth and signs of deformity when cultured outside its optimum temperature (26°C –29°C; Yang et al 2016) or salinity range (15‰–25‰; Liu et al 2019) and infections, mainly caused by Vibrio bacteria (Tan et al 2017)
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