Age, growth and mortality of red bandfish, Cepola macrophthalma (L.), in the eastern Adriatic Sea (Croatian coast)

Abstract

Age, growth and mortality were analysed for red bandfish, Cepola macrophthalma, collected in the eastern Adriatic from May 2002 to June 2003. The oldest male was estimated to be age 4, the oldest female age 3. Parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation are: L∞ = 55.0 cm (SE = 0.1), K = 0.445 (SE = 0.074) and t0 = − 0.1 (SE = 0.001) for males, and L∞ = 48.9 cm (SE = 0.167), K = 0.395 (SE = 0.062) and t0 = − 0.009 (SE = 0.02) for females. The overall sex ratio was 1.42 : 1 in favour of males. Total mortality, corresponding to the slope of the descending limb of the catch curve, was Z = 1.20 per year for females and Z = 1.23 per year for males. Exploitation ratios were E = 0.479 for females and E = 0.433 for males.