Review of the literature on age and growth of grenadiers in the Mediterranean and new data on age of Trachyrincus scabrus (Macrouridae) in the Ionian Sea

Abstract

This paper reviews the existing literature on the age and growth of grenadiers in the Mediterranean Sea and provides new data on ageing of Trachyrincus scabrus in the Northwestern Ionian Sea (Central Medi� terranean). Most studies have been carried out through otolith readings. Seasonal otolith formation also appears to be a general trend in grenadier fish in the Mediterranean even though it seems to be related to fluc� tuations in feeding and activity patterns. From examined literature age ranges of macrourids in the Mediter� ranean Sea varied from youngoftheyear (age 0) to a maximum ages of 23 years. There is a general agree� ment on the growth pattern of the species in the different geographic areas. T. scabrus was collected in the Northwestern Ionian Sea at depths between 400 and 1200 m during four seasonal trawl surveys. The mini� mum and maximum sizes of the whole sampled population were between 58 and 217 mm PAL. Otoliths were removed from 216 specimens. Backcalculation was performed and a maximum age of 10 years was deter� mined. The following von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated for the whole sampled population: L ∞ = 247.44 ± 8.39 mm PAL; k = 0.125 ± 0.010/year; t 0 = -1.921 ± 0.127.