Use of otolith length and weight in age estimations of the kingsoldier bream, Argyrops spinifer, in the Persian Gulf

Abstract

Fifty-four specimens of the kingsoldier bream, Argyrops spinifer (Forsskal, 1775) from coastal waters of the Persian Gulf, in Bushehr Province, were aged by otolith readings to assess the suitability of using otolith length/weight for age estimation in this fish. Otolith length and weight increased along with an increase in length and age of the fish. The relationship between fish length (TL) and otolith weight (OW) was as OW=0.007TL –0.79 (r 2 =0.90), between fish age (t) and otolith length (OL) as OL=5.576 (t) 0.346 (r 2 =0.88), between fish age (t) and otolith weight (OW) as OW=0.03 (t) 0.837 (r 2 =0.91) and between fish length (TL) and otolith length (OL) as OL=1.125 (TL) 0.644 (r 2 =0.92). Thus, these parameters could be readily used in age determination of A. spinifer. The proportion of average otolith weight to fish total length which partly shows the growth rate, was assessed as 0.005.