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Age and growth of the silky shark Carcharhinus falciformis (Muller & Henle, 1839) in the Ecuadorian Pacific
Christopher Mera 
, Diego Mejía, Smith Vera-Mera, Steven Tamayo-Vega, Felipe Galván-Magaña, Michael Veléz-Soledispa, Jesus Briones-Mendoza
Abstract
Context Carcharhinus falciformis ranks third in elasmobranch landings in the Ecuadorian Pacific. However, there is limited and outdated information about its life history, making it challenging to propose management strategies. Aims To determine the age and growth parameters of C. falciformis in the southern Ecuadorian Pacific. Methods At the artisanal port “Playita Mía”, vertebral samples were collected from 290 specimens (161 females and 129 males) and sectioned sagittally to estimate age. A Bayesian and frequentist multimodel approach (von Bertalanffy, Gompertz, and Logistic) was used for length-at-age analysis. Results Sizes ranged from 79.2 to 238 cm total length (TL), with age groups estimated between 0 and 19 years. The Bayesian von Bertalanffy growth model provided the best fit according to the leave-one-out information criterion (LOOIC). The estimates were as follows: for combined sexes, L∞ = 271.54 cm TL, k = 0.09 years-1, L0= 72.21 cm TL; for females, L∞ = 271.83 cm TL, k = 0.09 years-1, L0= 71.61cm TL; and for males, L∞ = 273.60 cm TL, k = 0.08 years-1, L0= 72.99 cm TL. Conclusions This study demonstrates that C. falciformis is a slow-growing species, making it susceptible to overfishing. Implications The findings provide valuable information for future population and demographic analyses of this species.
PC24090 Accepted 26 March 2025
© CSIRO 2025
