Age, growth and natural mortality of Atlantic chub mackerel Scomber colias Gmelin 1789 (Perciformes: Scombridae), from Mauritania (NW Africa)

Age, growth and natural mortality were analyzed for Atlantic chub mackerel Scomber colias Gmelin 1789, collected from commercial landings from Mauritanian waters between 2005 and 2011. A total of 4599 specimens were sampled, ranging from 12.4 cm to 49.0 cm of total length. Length-weight relationship...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Jurado-Ruzafa, Alba, Hernández, E., Santamaría, María Teresa García
Format: article
Publication Date:2017
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/325238
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/325238
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Pesquerías
Atlantic chub mackerel
Centro Oceanográfico de Canarias
Scomber colias
age and growth
natural mortality
Mauritania
Description
Summary:Age, growth and natural mortality were analyzed for Atlantic chub mackerel Scomber colias Gmelin 1789, collected from commercial landings from Mauritanian waters between 2005 and 2011. A total of 4599 specimens were sampled, ranging from 12.4 cm to 49.0 cm of total length. Length-weight relationships showed statistically significant differences between sexes. Ages were estimated by counting growth bands on otoliths, with specimens from 0 to 7 years. The mostly absence of 0-age individuals led to use the backcalculation method to estimate the growth parameters, and no statistically significant differences were found between sexes. Natural mortality rate was estimated through empirical methods with a mean value of 0.47 years-1 . Those results provide important updated biological information for fisheries assessment of a species that plays a key role in the local and foreign economy and in the surrounding ecosystem