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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 57(4)

Growth trends of Queensland east coast Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) from otolith back-calculations

Aaron C. Ballagh A B , Gavin A. Begg A , Amos Mapleston A and Andrew Tobin A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CRC Reef Research Centre, School of Tropical Environment Studies and Geography, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: aaron.ballagh@jcu.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 57(4) 383-393 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF05173
Submitted: 9 September 2005  Accepted: 23 March 2006   Published: 14 June 2006

Abstract

The growth of narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) was examined over a broad spatial scale encompassing the east coast of Queensland, Australia. Our aim was to use back-calculation to identify potential biases in growth estimation, and to provide a more recent estimate of growth for Spanish mackerel on the east coast of Queensland. Growth trends were determined using the body proportional hypothesis (BPH) back-calculation model and compared between back-calculated and observed length-at-age data. The back-calculated von Bertalanffy growth function parameters estimated for males and females, respectively, were L∞ = 1047 mm, K = 0.75, t0 = –0.18 and L∞ = 1248 mm, K = 0.51 and t0 = –0.39. Significant differences in growth of Spanish mackerel sampled among different regions along the east coast were observed. A comparison of back-calculated and observed length-at-age data revealed significant biases in the observed length-at-age data for younger aged fish. Our findings contrast with previous estimates of growth for Spanish mackerel from the east coast of Queensland and highlight the use of back-calculation for the first few annuli as a means of avoiding biases in growth estimation arising from gear selectivity associated with fishery-dependent samples of fast-growing fish.

Extra keywords: back-calculation, gear selectivity, growth comparison, narrow-barred Spanish mackerel.


Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Ashley Williams, Ross Marriott and the CRC Reef Research Centres’ Fishing and Fisheries team. The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and CRC Reef Research Centre provided funding and support for this study.


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