Age and Growth of the Fish, Gerres Filamentosus (Cuvier, 1829) From

Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research 43 (2017) 219–227

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Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research

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Full length article Age and growth of the ﬁsh, Gerres ﬁlamentosus (Cuvier, 1829) from Hurghada Red Sea, Egypt

Taher Mohamed Ahmed Abu El-Nasr

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Egypt article info abstract

Article history: A total of 669, Gerres filamentosus (Cuvier, 1829) were collected from Hurghada area in the Egyptian Red Received 3 May 2017 Sea coast (January – December 2010). The author investigated the age and growth by two different meth- Revised 24 July 2017 ods through scale-annuli reading (Direct method) and Length-frequency distribution (Indirect method) Accepted 26 July 2017 which showed new record of lengths for the species. The equations of the length-weight relationship Available online 8 November 2017 was W = 0.0143⁄ L2.9564 (Males), W = 0.0146⁄ L2.9543 (Females) and W = 0.0144⁄ L2.9597 (combined sexes). The von Bertalanffy growth equation was calculated by three different mathematical methods. It was Keywords: concluded that it would be economical to protect this species from capture until at least their 5th year, Mojarra after the fish has reached about 32.71 cm in total length and about 439.15 grams in weight. Whipfin Ó Silver-biddy 2017 National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. Hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access Length-weight article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Age groups Frequency distribution

Introduction studied the same species from Fort Kochi, Kerala, India, by using different types of fishing gears like gill nets, seines and cast nets. More- Age and growth studies on fishes are very essential in planning over, Sivashanthini (2008) reported that, the silver-biddy, Gerres and managing of fish culture and fishery researches. Not only filamentosus (Cuvier, 1829) males reach maturity at 143.8 mm and retardation of metabolism but also disturbances in conditions such that of the females at 136.6 mm total length in Parangipetti water as feeding, temperature or unfavorable changes of many factors as (South East coast of India). According to Dickie (1978) a number pollution and diseases affected on growth of fishes (Nikolsky, of mathematical growth curves have been published together with 1963). The distribution and Landings of Gerreids in the Red Sea methods of fitting them statistically. On the other hand, by the were given by Bayoumi (1972) and were common in sandy bottom, appropriate otolith preparation methods, deep-water snappers sea grass and muddy areas (Kerschner et al., 1985). In the main were estimated age precisely in acceptable level (Williams et al., Egyptian fishing areas of the north western part of the Red Sea, 2015). In spite of its importance, the present study is an attempt which are Al-Ghardaqa and Safaga Bay, the representatives of Ger- to age of G.filamentosus (Cuv.) using scale circuli and analyze growth res filamentosus (Cuv.,) offers some of the most economic species from length-frequency data in the Red Sea coast of Hurghada, Egypt (Boraey, 1980a). Unfortunately, although the favorable taste of this to evaluate its growth rate and productivity. species for Egyptian peoples, no studies and lack of knowledge about the biology hinder its proper management. However, the scale method is widely used in age and growth Materials and methods studies (Lagler, 1956). The reduction in growth leads to checks’ formation on the hard parts of the fish and the growth ring marked dur- Random mid-monthly commercial-trawler samples of G.fila- ing the months of summer due to nourishment of food. (Bilton, mentosus from freshly caught catches off Egyptian Hurghada Red 1974). Among the valuable works adopted the scale after being val- Sea, during from January to December 2010. A total of 669 fish idated, in calculating growth are those of Boraey (1980b); Boraey (12–39 cm in total length) were taken. Of each fish sex, total and Soliman (1985a,b), El-Agamy (1988); Da Costa et al. (2012) weight (to the nearest 0.01 g) and the total length (to the nearest and Espino-Bar et al. (2014). Divakaran and Kuttyamma (2014) 0.1 cm) were measured. The length data were classified into length groups at 0.9 cm interval. The relationship of length–weight was estimated from the power-equation: Peer review under responsibility of National Institute of Oceanography and b Fisheries. W=aL (Hile, 1936) and (Le Cren, 1951) .The values for ‘‘a” and E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] ‘‘b” estimated by least squares method (Lagler, 1956). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2017.07.003 1687-4285/Ó 2017 National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries. Hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 220 T.M.A. Abu El-Nasr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research 43 (2017) 219–227

Direct method for age determination (Scale reading) Ln ðL1 LtÞ¼Ln L1 þ Kt0 Kt

The plots of time ‘‘t” against Ln (L1 L ) gives the values of ‘‘a” A number of scales (about 6–10) were removed with a stout for- t and ‘‘b”. ceps from the flank region behind the left pectoral fin of each indi- vidual fish-specimen and kept in paper envelops. The scales were then soaked in 10% ammonia solution, cleaned, washed in distilled water and pressed dry in between two glass slide for further investigation. The scales representing rings or annuli formation (growth checks) were measured from its anterior margin along a line to the focus, according to the method recommended by Lee (1920) and Bagenal and Tesch (1978). The examination and measurement of the fish scales were made by a zoom-microscope at a micrometer eye-piece with magnifica- tion of (X16), placing the zero graduation of the micrometer eye- piece on the focus of the scales. The total radius of each scale ‘‘S” (The distance from the focus to the nth annulus) were measured to nearest 0.01 mm. The scale edge in the anterior field was also measured for the marginal increment analysis and for back- calculating fish length at the time of annulus ring-formation. The fish were classified into age groups based on the number of com- pleted years of life. Then, the relation was represented as follows: Rn = ST-Sn/ST X 100 Where: Rn = Ratio of marginal growth. ST = Total scale radius in millimeter. Sn = Distance from the focus to the last annulus in millimeter. The fish were classified into age-groups based on the numbers of true-rings of year-life. The Fig. 1. The L-W relationship (Males) G. filamentosus. relationship of fish body-length to scale-radius was based on the assumption that scale growth is proportional to fish growth according to Lee (1920): L=a+bSWhere: L = fish length in centimeters, S = scale radius in centimeters, b = slope value, a = the ini- tial fish length before scale formation. The fish length-scale radius relationship was back-calculated as follows: Ln = (L-a) (Sn/S) + a... (Lee, 1920) Where: Ln = calculated length at ‘‘n” years. L = total fish capture-length in centimeters, Sn = radius of scale at annulus ‘‘n”. S = total scale-radius, a = intercept at Y-axis. The von Bertalanffy Growth Formula (von Bertalanffy, 1934, 1938), was then used to )K(tt relate fish length to age as follows: Lt = L1 [1-e0 ] To deter- mine the asymptotic length (L1) graphically, the graphical method of Ford-Walford plot (Ricker, 1958) was adopted. The point at which the straight line relationship between Lt+1 and Lt cuts the 450 diagonal from the origin yielded L1 value. The calculated weights at every year of life were estimated by applying the corresponding L-W equations to the back-calculated lengths. W=cLn

The constant of the von Bertalanffy model (L1, K and t0) were estimated by the following three methods:

K K i) Lt+1 = L1(1e )+(e )Lt according to Ford (1933) – Fig. 2. The L-W relationship (Females) of G. ﬁlamentosus. Walford (1946) where,

Lt and Lt+1 are the size of the ﬁsh at age t and t+1, respectively. From the least-squares linear regression relationship described by Walford line:

Ltþ1 ¼ a þ bLt

This shows the mathematical validity of linearity of Ford- Walford plot for ﬁshes obeying von Bertalanffy’s growth curve, where,

K K a ¼ L1ð1 e Þ; and b ¼ e

L1 ¼ intercept=1 slope;

K ¼Ln slope The intercept value of this regression was then used to solve for t0 estimation. From von Bertalanffy’s growth curve rearrangement (age = t), was estimated as: Fig. 3. The L-W relationship (combined sexes) of G. ﬁlamentosus. T.M.A. Abu El-Nasr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research 43 (2017) 219–227 221 a ¼ LnL1 þ Kt0; b ¼Kt a ¼ KL1; t0 ¼ Intercept Ln L1=K b ¼KorK¼b

ii) Lt+1 Lt=KL1 K(Lt+1 + Lt/2) (Gulland and Holt, 1959) L1 ¼ a=KorL1 ¼ a= b; where, K K iii) Lt+1 Lt=L1 (1 e ) (1 e )Lt (Chapmann, 1960) where,

K a ¼ L1ð1 e Þ

b ¼ð1 eKÞ

K L1 ¼ a=ð1 e Þ or L1 ¼ a= b

Lnð1 þ bÞ¼KorK¼Lnð1 þ bÞ

For calculating ‘‘t0” Gulland (1969) equation was used as follows:t0=t + 1/K Ln {(L1 Lt)/L1} The value of t0 can be computed as the mean of all ages. Growth performance index (ø’) = log (K) + 2 log (L1) ...... (Munro and Pauly, 1983)

Indirect method for age determination, (Length-frequency distribution)

The graph in result shows a poly-modal distribution of length frequencies. The total length measurements were pooled for each month and were analyzed, keeping the size interval as 0.9 cm. The number of fish in each size was expressed in terms of percent- Fig. 4. The body length-scale radius relationship (Combined sexes) of G. filamentosus . age. An accepted method, first suggested by Petersen (1892),of obtaining the year-class composition of a fish population, is to divide the length frequency curve into its component parts.

Results and discussion

Length-weight relationship

The relation between the common measureable variable in the field, the length and weight of fish reflects the environmental factors of a habitat in which the fish live, particularly the amount of food present. So, this relation obtained and used to reflect the calculated growth in length to the corresponding growth in weight. The study of length-weight relationship of this species was calculated which was based on the sum of the data regardless to the date of capture, sex and state of maturity). In this study, the calculated equations of L-W relationship are represented in (Figs. 1–3) and expressed by the following equations: Log W = 1.8446 + 2.9564 Log L (Males), Log W = 1.8356 + 2.9543 Log L (Females) & Log W = 1.8416 + 2.9597 Log L (Combined sexes) Due to these equations, it was found that, the weight of pooled sexes increases in proportion to less than the cube of their body length (2.9), which proves that this species follows the negative allometric growth. Actually, when the relationship is isometric (b = 3), positive allometric (b > 3) and negative allometric (b < 3) (Spiegel, 1991). In

Fig. 5. Photomicrographs of cycloid scales of G. filamentosus showing the annulus rings, black marks represent the position of opaque bands, (Scale bar = 1 mm). A- 8 years female fish (Total length = 38.9 cm and total weight = 788.5 g.). B- 6 years Fig. 6. Monthly variations marginal increment on the scales (age group II) of male fish (Total length = 34.3 cm and total weight = 547.9 g.) G. filamentosus. 222 T.M.A. Abu El-Nasr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research 43 (2017) 219–227

Table 1 The back-calculated lengths at different years of Gerres ﬁlamentosus .

Age- group ﬁsh(N) Mean length at capture (cm) Average calculated lengths at each year (cm)

L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 L8 I 105 14.45 6.91 II 264 19.95 8.09 15.86 III 175 24.45 10.09 16.38 19.03 IV 78 28.45 10.84 17.70 23.03 27.21 V 20 31.95 10.89 18.11 24.49 29.25 31.86 VI 20 34.95 11.28 18.45 24.55 29.63 32.30 34.49 VII 5 37.45 11.91 20.37 25.53 29.68 32.75 34.57 35.95 VIII 2 38.95 12.23 22.70 27.53 31.23 33.93 35.01 37.05 38.18 Grand average calculated length (cm) 10.28 18.51 24.16 29.40 32.71 34.69 36.50 38.18 Annual increment of length (cm) 10.28 8.23 5.65 5.24 3.31 1.98 1.81 1.68 Percentage increase (%) 26.93 21.56 14.80 13.72 8.67 5.19 4.74 4.40

Total number of ﬁsh is 669.

Table 2 The back-calculated weights at different years of G. ﬁlamentosus.

Age- group ﬁsh (N) Mean weight capture (g.) Average calculated weights at each year (g.)

Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8 I 105 40.58 4.48 II 264 102.93 7.14 51.91 III 175 183.87 13.69 57.09 88.83 IV 78 287.17 16.91 71.75 155.87 254.83 V 20 391.90 17.14 76.76 186.83 315.35 405.70 VI 20 548.02 19.01 81.08 188.18 327.58 422.44 512.56 VII 5 691.61 22.32 108.55 211.19 329.21 440.03 516.07 579.18 VIII 2 788.31 24.13 149.38 263.77 382.51 488.41 535.67 632.99 691.60 Grand average calculated weight (g.) 15.60 85.22 182.45 321.90 439.15 521.43 606.09 691.60 Annual increment of weight (g.) 15.60 69.62 97.23 139.45 117.25 82.28 84.66 85.51 Percentage increase (%) 2.26 10.07 14.06 20.16 16.95 11.90 12.24 12.36

Total number of ﬁsh is 669.

Table 3 Table 4 Constants of the Von Bertalanffy’s growth equation and growth performance Theoretical growth in lengths of G. ﬁlamentosus. of G. ﬁlamentosus. Age Sex Back-calculated Theoretical lengths (cm) Yea-rs Lengths Subject Ford (1933)– Gulland and Chapmann Ford-Walford Gulland& Chapman Walford (1946) Holt (1959) (1960) Sex Constant Holt + Males(M) K 0.3049 0.2987 0.3026 1 M 8.98 10.53 8.89 8.58

to 0.1855 0.1772 0.2178 F 10.45 10.35 12.14 11.78 L1 40.7292 40.82 40.73 M&F 10.28 10.43 10.99 10.64 + W1 818.94 824.34 812.04 2 M 16.94 17.31 17.14 16.98 Females(F) K 0.2968 0.2954 0.2981 F 18.66 18.46 19.76 19.55 M&F 18.51 18.51 18.93 18.72 to 0.0447 0.1564 0.1069 + L1 41.9224 41.95 41.92 3 M 23.68 23.46 23.25 23.18 W1 914.16 915.94 914.00 F 24.79 24.48 25.44 25.32 Combined sexes K 0.2946 0.2937 0.2969 M&F 24.16 24.54 24.84 24.73 + (C) to 0.0347 0.0283 0.0197 4 M 27.93 28.00 27.79 27.76 L1 42.1222 42.17 42.12 F 28.90 28.96 29.66 29.59 W1 921.02 924.25 921.02 M&F 29.40 29.03 29.25 29.20 + Growth (M) 2.7040 2.6970 2.7007 5 M 31.62 31.35 31.15 31.15 Performance (F) 2.7173 2.7159 2.7192 F 32.26 32.29 32.80 32.77 index(ø’) (C) 2.7183 2.7179 2.7216 M&F 32.71 32.37 32.54 32.52 6+ M 33.65 33.81 33.65 33.65 F 34.34 34.76 35.14 35.13 this respect, similar results were reported by Aziz et al. (2013) for M&F 34.69 34.86 34.99 34.99 the same species from Azhikode Estuary, Kerala, India by the fol- 7+ F 36.50 36.60 36.88 36.88 lowing equations: Log W = 1.321 + 2.5868 Log L (Males), Log M&F 36.50 36.71 36.82 36.82 8+ F 38.18 37.97 38.18 38.18 W = 1.467 + 2.7227 Log L (Females) & Log W = 1.481 + 2.7316 Log M&F 38.18 38.09 38.18 38.18 L (Combined sexes). This result agrees with the result of Ndiaye et al. (2015), where the growth pattern of Gerres nigri was allomet- M = Males, F = Females and M&F = Combined sexes. ric (The total length was 9.7 cm and total weight was 10.9 g.).

and females of G. filamentosus in relation to the fish length. From Age determination and growth the average total fish length and scale radii of the combined sexes, the total length-scale radius ratio (L/S) were calculated and graph- The reading of cycloid scales shows the high degree of correla- ically represented by a straight line as in (Fig. 4). The Photomicro- tion measurements of scale radius of the combined sexes, males graphs (Fig. 5 A&B) of cycloid scales of G. filamentosus illustrated T.M.A. Abu El-Nasr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research 43 (2017) 219–227 223 the annulus rings of adult fish specimens of a female (8 years) and The correlation coefficient of the obtained three equations, 0.9946, a male (6 years). The computed equations of the total length –scale 0.9893 and 0.9950 are very close to unity, which confirm the close radius relationships of G. filamentosus can be expressed as follows: association of the length of, G. filamentosus from the Red Sea (Hur- 1- Combined sexes: L = 2.8090 + 3.4788 S 2- Males: L = 3.1719 ghada, Egypt) with the growth of their scales. This means that the + 3.4413 S 3- Females: L = 2.6896 + 3.4674 S scales of the fish under investigation can be used successfully for The intercepts of equations are 2.81, 3.17 and 2.69 cm for com- age estimation. For the length of the fish at scale formation from bined sexes, males and females, respectively. This means that the the Red Sea, Egypt, the intercept of Lee’s equation (L = a + b S) scales are firstly deposited on the males’ body, when they have was found to be 2.69 cm which varied from the range of 1.8 cm 3.17 cm. lengths, but for females when they have 2.69 cm. lengths. and 8 mm with different other fish species for Acanthopagrus bifasciatus and Crysophrys haffara, respectively (Boraey and Soliman, 1985a,b). The annulus formation on the scales of G. filamentosus, Table 5 is starting to be formed in July (Fig. 6). This period coincides with Theoretical growth in weights of G. filamentosus. the abundance of food and rise of water temperature. This type of Age Sex Back-calculated Theoretical weights (g.) observation has been also described in Gerres oyena by El-Agamy (Years) Weights Ford-Walford Gulland Chapman & Holt 1+ M 10.30 9.40 9.21 8.25 F 17.15 14.69 23.53 21.54 M&F 15.60 15.03 17.57 15.94 2+ M 62.43 65.59 63.73 61.58 F 87.98 81.11 99.24 96.12 M&F 85.22 81.65 87.16 84.42 3+ M 167.92 160.94 156.75 154.17 F 196.68 186.79 209.11 206.18 M&F 182.45 187.32 194.28 191.79 4+ M 271.34 271.13 265.16 262.38 F 308.16 306.73 329.12 327.00 M&F 321.90 307.29 314.48 312.83 5+ M 391.56 378.23 371.47 368.34 F 424.61 422.92 443.10 441.86 M&F 439.15 423.69 430.46 429.65 6+ M 467.85 472.91 466.29 462.53 F 509.07 525.91 543.04 542.47 M&F 521.43 527.10 533.20 532.96 Fig. 9. Theoretical growth in weight for males and females of G. filamentosus. 7+ F 609.55 612.34 626.38 626.21 M&F 606.09 614.10 619.51 619.52 F 695.71 682.32 693.60 693.59 8+ M&F 691.60 684.71 689.53 689.53

M = Males, F = Females and M&F = Combined sexes.

Fig. 10. The length- frequency distribution of G. ﬁlamentosus.

Fig. 7. Ford-Walford plot of growth (combined sexes) of G. ﬁlamentosus.

Fig. 8. Theoretical growth in length and weight for combpined sexes of Fig. 11. Percentage frequency of size fish length distribution of combined sexes of G. filamentosus. G. filamentosus. 224

Table 6 Variations of the total length group with different age groups in G. ﬁlamentosus.

Total Length- Group(cm) Age -Group I Age- Group II Age- Group III Age- Group IV Age -Group V Age- Group VI Age- Group VII Age- Group VIII

M F M&F M F M&F M F M&F M F M&F M F M&F M F M&F M F M&F M F M&F 219–227 (2017) 43 Research Aquatic of Journal Egyptian / El-Nasr Abu T.M.A. 11.5–12.4 0 1 1 12.5–13.4 0 2 2 13.5–14.4 3 6 9 14.5–15.4 7 7 14 15.5–16.4 6 16 22 4 4 8 16.5–17.4 10 20 30 8 11 19 17.5–18.4 14 20 34 11 18 29 18.5–19.4 18 20 38 10 15 25 19.5–20.4 11 20 31 9 8 17 5 7 12 20.5–21.4 7 4 11 6 6 12 3 2 5 21.5–22.4 12 13 25 8 7 15 7 3 10 22.5–23.4 7 11 18 13 17 30 23.5–24.4 8 10 18 13 20 33 24.5–25.4 7 12 19 8 16 24 25.5–26.4 3 11 14 7 12 19 26.5–27.4 2 6 8 5 8 13 27.5–28.4 11 2 178 246 28.5–29.4 279 41115 29.5–30.4 235 3912 30.5–31.4 134 011 31.5–32.4 145 213 32.5–33.4 033 224 33.5–34.4 022 213 34.5–35.4 178 35.5–36.4 077 36.5–37.4 02 2 37.5–38.4 03 3 38.5–39.4 02 2 Total Number 88 129 217 83 119 202 62 86 148 6 20 26 10 34 44 7 11 18 0 7 7 0 7 7 Mean 9.8 11.7 19.7 6.9 9.9 16.8 6.8 9.6 16.4 1.5 5.0 6.5 2.5 4.9 6.3 1.8 2.8 4.5 0 7 7 0 2.3 2.3 Percentage % 13.2 19.3 32.4 12.4 17.8 30.2 9.3 12.9 22.1 0.9 3.0 3.9 1.5 5.1 6.6 1.0 1.6 2.7 0 1. 1 0 1 1 Table 7 Random commercial-trawler mid-monthly samples of G. ﬁlamentosus from Egyptian Hurghada Red Sea (Year 2010).

T.L. group Jan.2010 February March April May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.2010 Total (cm) M F MF MF MF MF MF MF MF MF MF MF MF M F ...AuE-ar/Eyta ora fAutcRsac 3(07 219–227 (2017) 43 Research Aquatic of Journal Egyptian / El-Nasr Abu T.M.A. 11.5–12.4 0 1 01 12.5–13.4 0 1 0 1 02 13.5–14.4 2 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 36 14.5–15.4 2 3 0 1 3221 77 15.5–16.4 4 9 1 2 0 2 3522 10 20 16.5–17.4 5 10 3 8 2 0 0 4 4 6 1 1 2 2 1 0 18 31 17.5–18.4 7 13 3 7 5 5 0 2 57102301 202538 18.5–19.4 8 11 3 2 3 6 1 2 43424503 112835 19.5–20.4 3 5 1 1 1 3 2 1 2 2 5235452324 042535 20.5–21.4 7 0 1 0 3 3 0 1 1 0 3 5 1 3 16 12 21.5–22.4 1 2 0 2 0 1 10 2 1 2 7 0 0 1 0 2 3 4 2 4 2 3 1 0 27 23 22.5–23.4 3 8 0 1 2 2 4 9 5 1 1 0 3 5 1 2 1 0 20 28 23.5–24.4 0 1 4 6 0 2 3 4 3 7 3 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 4 2 5 21 30 24.5–25.4 0 1 2 7 2 4 4 9 1 0 2 3 1 2 3 2 15 28 25.5–26.4 0 1 2 3 0 3 2 2 1 9 1 2 3 0 0 1 1 2 10 23 26.5–27.4 0 4 2 4 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 0 2 7 14 27.5–28.4 2 3 0 2 0 6 1 1 1 0 4 12 28.5–29.4 0 2 0 2 1 3 3 7 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 6 18 29.5–30.4 0 1 1 1 1 0 2 2 3 12135 12 30.5–31.4 0 1 1 0 1 011 4 31.5–32.4 0 1 1 1 23 3 5 32.5–33.4 0 2 0 2 10 12 5 33.5–34.4 10012 3 34.5–35.4 0 1 1 3 0102 1 7 35.5–36.4 0 1 1 4 011 6 36.5–37.4 02 02 37.5–38.4 03 03 38.5–39.4 02 02 TOTAL 24 51 16 34 20 47 38 40 29 90 45 31 14 15 15 17 16 17 13 23 14 21 13 26 257 412 75 50 67 78 119 76 29 32 33 36 35 39 669

M = number of males and F = number of females. 225 226 T.M.A. Abu El-Nasr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research 43 (2017) 219–227

(1988) in the Arabian Gulf and Boraey (1980a) on G. filamentosus of respectively. The growth study on short-nose mojarra, Diapterus seven year classes in the fishery groups of Al-Gardaqa and Safaga brevirostris by Gallardo-Cabello et al. (2014) stated that two meth- Bay. The back-calculated and observed lengths and weights at dif- ods gave similar results and were nearly isometric and b = 2.977, ferent years of life for combined sexes of G. filamentosus (Cuvier, the longevity was of 21.5 years and the use of the growth parame- 1829) were done in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. ters was a robust result. Also, Sabrah et al. (2015) stated that the This result showed that the peak of both length and weight fish of age-groups one and two years were dominated representing attained in the 2nd year of fish life and their increments were 36.6% and 39.3%, respectively of the thorny flathead Rogadius asper 8.23 cm and 69.62 g, respectively. In similar studies of Boraey (Cuvier, 1829) from the coastal waters of the Suez Gulf, Egypt. (1980a) on the same species, the results were obtained that the In addition of Tarawa Lagoon, Kiribati, Length-frequency data, peak of both length and weight attained in the 2nd year of fish life on Gerres oyena, suggested that this species was recruited, in- and their increments were 5.1 cm and 45.8 g, respectively. every six months, in pulses of unequal strength (Yeeting, 2005). The mathematical expression of growth facilitates showed that On the other hand, from Iqbal et al. (2006), the Japanese the comparison of growth among the different species, stocks and mojarra Gerres equulus grew rapidly until the 2nd year and showed even the same species at different localities and times. The con- a slower growth rate thereafter and the ages ranged from I to X stants obtained from fitting observed growth data in mathematic years for both sexes, the most were II-IV years old (males) and II- models’ are represented in (Table 3), which are essential parame- V years old (females). On the other hand, based on length fre- ters as Growth Performance index (ø’). The back-calculated and quency data by using the FiSAT software in population of Merluc- computed theoretical growths by the three different methods are cius merluccius in Northeast Atlantic (Moroccan coast) were given in (Tables 4 and 5) for lengths and weights, respectively. From studied (Belcaid and Ahmed, 2011). the graphically estimation of ‘‘L1” for combined sexes of G. filamen- This observation was in agreement with that of De Santana and tosus the straight line is very satisfactory and ‘‘L1” attains 42.21 cm Minte-Vera (2017) on the fish Prochilodus lineatus. They added that as shown in (Fig. 7). The curve representing the von Bertalanffy the agreement between otolith and scale readings was significantly growth in length and in weight as calculated by the method of low, where the otoliths showed one to eight annuli and the scales Ford (1933) and Walford (1946) is shown in (Figs. 8 and 9). The had one to six circuli. Regression analysis showed that the scale (Fig. 10) shows a poly-modal distribution of length-frequencies circuli count for age estimation was favorable because of its limited quite evident in the peak-curves for the age-classes of fish-life exhi- invasiveness and high technical skills and suitable instruments bit essentially the same pattern; (The modes at 10 cm, 18–19 cm, (Llies et al., 2014). On studying size frequency, the ratio of females 24–26 cm, 29 cm, 32 cm, 34 cm, 36 cm and 38 cm resemble age- increases with size till they reach a certain size, males disappeared year-classes of life of 1,2,3 ...to 8 years old, respectively) as just completely and the catch was totally females, these is due to the described for the corresponding age-group from the empirical fact that G. filamentosus female reach larger size and grow older lengths which show clearly the validity of scalemetry of the whip- than males. This growth coincided well with that of Lee et al. fin, G. filamentosus. Variations in the calculated lengths attained at (2017), who stated that inclusion of paired observations of length the end of different years of life, are obvious from one age-group and associated age inside the population dynamics model may be to the next as in (Table 6). Size composition for both sexes in the most appropriate way of estimating growth. (Table 6) represents the data analysis. It showed that the size of males ranged from 14cm to 36 cm with an average of 24.55 cm Conclusions while females were predominated the larger size (12–39 cm) with an average of 26.95 cm. Majority of this species (combined sexes) The age and growth study of G. filamentosus from the Egyptian had length ranging between (16.0–26.0 cm) forming about 86.5% Red Sea at Hurghada together with former studies on reproduction of the total catch. There are clear overlapped in the lengths of the by Abu El-Nasr (2016a,b) will help for fisheries study. The analysis successive age groups, i.e. a fish in one length of G. filamentosus of growth of G. filamentosus by several methods strengthens the might belong to two or three age-groups. (Table 7) shows the exam- calculated parameters, and assures the use of these results in the ined sample population which confirms to the normal distribution. fisheries research. There was substantial variation in length-at-age of G. filamentosus but the youngest ages, in the intermediate ages there was a mix Acknowledgements of individuals with markedly different growth rates as in (Fig. 11), these results are in coexistence with results by Sivashanthini The author gives his deep gratitude and grateful thanks to Pro- (2009), the age-groups on the length frequency data of G. filamento- fessor Dr. Anwar E. El-Agamey Professor of fish biology, Depart- sus from India. She reported sex-wise-group into one centimeter ment of Zoology, Zagazig University, Egypt and senior research class intervals for growth estimation where, (L1) and (K) were fellow, Geetha Plackal, CUSAT School of marine sciences Ernaku- found to be 26.9 cm and 1.45 year1, in males, and 27.11 cm and lam, Kerala, India for their reviewing this manuscript draft. The 1 comments of two reviewers (Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research) 1.50 year in females, respectively. Also, ‘t0’ in Pauly’s equation equals – 0.1109 in males and – 0.1073 in females. From modal pro- improved the manuscript of this paper. gressions, the smaller size showed faster growth than the larger size and distinct size classes occupied different zones. Another results, of sagittal otoliths in Okinawa Japan, the maximum esti- References mated ages of Gerres sp. were observed 5 + years (females) and 4 Abu El-Nasr, T.M., 2016a. Evaluation the quality of the oil waste histological + years (males), in the absence of sufficient sections of otoliths for changes in the ovaries of the whipfin fish, Gerres filamentosus (Cuvier, 1829) age estimation (Kanak and Tachihara, 2006). during the reproductive cycle in the Hurdhada Red Sea, Egypt. AENSI J., Adv. This study showed that the age composition of G. filamentosus Environ. Biol. 10 (4), 160–173. Abu El-Nasr, T.M. 2016b. Histological changes in the testes of the fish, Gerres varied from I to VIII, and the percentage of females was 61.58% to filamentosus (Cuvier, 1829) during the reproductive cycle in the Hurdhada Red the males of 38.42%, and the growth parameters of the population Sea, Egypt. 5th International Conference on Agriculture, Environment and 1 Biological Sciences (ICAEBS-16) April pp. 28–29, Pattaya (Thailand). as follows: L1 = 42.12 cm, K = 0.295 year and t0 = 0.035. In Aziz, M., Ambily, V., Nandan, S.B., 2013. Age and growth of Gerres filamentosus addition, Sivashanthini (2009) found that the length of G. filamento- (Cuvier, 1829), from Kodungallur, Azhikode Estuary, Kerala. Afr. J. Agric. Res. 8 sus at first capture Lc was 6.74 and 6.73 cm for male and female, (29), 4007–4014. T.M.A. Abu El-Nasr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research 43 (2017) 219–227 227

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