FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 87, NO. 4, 1989 



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Dorsal Spine Band Number 



Figure 8. — Mean (±95% confidence limits) anal spine (A) and dorsal spine (B) band 

 measurements for male and female Pacific Makaira nigricans. Data are ft'om specimens 

 that had at least the first or second band present. All other specimens were assigned inner 

 rings and final age estimates based upon these data. 



Reader Comparisons 



Average Percent Error (APE) values ranged 

 from 4.88% error for anal spines counted by 

 reader 1 to 9.68% for sagittae counted by reader 

 2 (Table 4). Reader 1 had low^er APE values 

 (more precise age estimations) than reader 2 for 

 each hardpart. Both readers had lowest APE 

 values for anal spines and highest values for 

 sagittae (Table 4). 



Comparisons of differences (D) in mean age 

 estimates between readers revealed that reader 

 1 had a tendency to give higher age estimates 



Table 4 — Average percent error (APE) values calculated 

 from triplicate uncorrected readings of 20 randomly select- 

 ed anal fin spines, dorsal fin spines, and sagittae. 



838 



