858 



Fishery Bulletin 101(4) 



value indicates a relatively fast attainment of maximum 

 size, characteristic of the moderately short life cycle for this 

 species. However, the estimations of ^g tend to be negative 

 and different from zero for values affected by the small 

 sample size of smaller fish. These estimations suggest that 

 the von Bertalanffy growth model does not accurately de- 

 scribe growth in the early stages. Pomadasys incisus grows 

 quickly in its first year, attaining approximately 60% of its 

 maximum length. After the first year, the annual growth 

 rate drops rapidly. This change in growth rate is attribut- 

 able to the utilization of available energy for reproduction 

 instead of somatic growth; in the study area the maturation 

 process begins in the second year of life (GregoireM. 



Two different patterns of growth rate in relation to as- 

 ymptotic length are observed for Pomadasys species (Fig. 

 6). The pattern off! incisus is similar to that observed 

 for P. striatus, P. jubeline, P. kaakan, P. maculates, and P. 

 commersonnii — species characterized by a high or moder- 

 ate asymptotic length and low or moderate growth coef- 

 ficient (Latif and Shenouda, 1972; Wallace and Schleyer, 

 1979; Edwards at al., 1985; Iqbal, 1989; Al-Husaini et al., 

 2001; Pauly''^). However, it differs substantially from that 

 observed for P. argyreus, a species with a very low asymp- 

 totic length (<151 mm) and a very high growth coefficient 

 (0.62-0.83/year), and for P. opercularis and P. argenteus, 

 species characterized by a high asymptotic length and a 



high growth coefficient (550-741 mm; 0.28-0.52/years) 

 (Deshmukh, 1973; Nzioka, 1982; Brothers and Mathews, 

 1987; Majid and Imad, 1991; Ingles and Pauly^). 



Results of models used in fisheries management, e.g. 

 analytical yield-per-recruit models (Beverton and Holt, 

 1957), are sensitive to uncertainty in the estimates of 

 input parameters such as the von Bertalanffy growth 

 parameters. Several estimations of growth in Pomadasys 

 species have been derived through length-based methods, 

 which for slow growing species are uncertain. The growth 

 parameters from this study are the first otoliths-based es- 

 timates of growth for P. incisus. Similar estimates obtained 

 from different growth models and methods suggest that the 

 current estimation could be considered a good estimation 

 of the growth pattern for the species and adequate for use 

 as an input parameter in models for the management of 

 the species. 



Acknowledgments 



The authors are grateful to the three anonymous review- 

 ers for their constructive, critical, and useful comments on 

 the manuscript. 



^ Pauly, D. 1978 A preliminary compilation of fish lengtli 

 growth parameters. Ber Inst. Meereskunden, Universitat an 

 der Kiel 55, 200 p. Institut fur Meereskunde, Dusternbrooker 

 Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany. 



'' Ingles, J., and D. Pauly. 1984. An atlas of the growth, mortal- 

 ity and recruitment of Philippine fishes, ICLARM Technical 

 Repport 13, 127 p. World Fish Center (ICLARM) Jalan Batu 

 Maung, Batu Maung, 1 1960 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia. 



