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Fishery Bulletin 101(4) 



tion of somatic growth and the formation of the hyahne 

 zone during the winter months. The high correlation found 

 between L, and otolith radius indicates that otoliths are a 

 useful structure for estimating the age and for indicating 

 the past growth history of bastard grunt. 



The coefficients of determination for each fitted curve 

 show that the three models explain more than 88% of the 

 growth pattern. The use of the von Bertalanffy model to 

 describe growth has been criticized for several reasons 

 (Booth, 1997). These include the use of parameters that 



