Abstract
Age and growth of the alfonsino Beryx splendens from New Caledonia seamounts were determined by examination of whole and sectioned otoliths. One growth-ring (annulus) in the otoliths appears to be laid down each year. It consists of one opaque (summer, fast-growing) zone and one hyaline (winter, slowgrowing) zone. Thin-sections of otoliths revealed daily rings which allowed us to estimate that the formation of the nucleus takes ∼10 mo. The first annulus following the nucleus is incomplete. Females have a higher growth rate than males. Sexual maturity is reached at the age of 7 to 8 yr for males and 6 yr for females. Maximum age attained would be ∼20 yr for alfonsino >50 cm in fork length. the results are compared with those from the few other studies on the growth of alfonsino.
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