MacNair et at: Age, growth, and mortality of Paralichthys californicus 
593 
Table 3 
Female California halibut total length versus age (mostly whole otoliths, some sectioned) in southern California. 
TL (mm) 
Age (yr) 
Mean age 
1 2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
201-225 
0.0 
226-250 
3 
2.0 
251-275 
1 5 
4 
2.3 
276-300 
7 
7 
2.5 
301-325 
1 
2 
2.7 
326-350 
3 
6 
5 
3.1 
351-375 
2 
4 
2 
3.0 
376-400 
4 
5 
2 
3.8 
401-425 
6 
12 
3 
1 
4.0 
426-450 
5 
5 
3 
1 
4.0 
451-500 
4 
9 
10 
4 
3 
1 
4.9 
501-525 
1 
17 
5 
1 
5.3 
526-550 
3 
9 
8 
1 
1 
1 
5.6 
551-575 
4 
3 
10 
6 
2 
6.0 
576-600 
4 
3 
8 
4 
4 
1 
6.2 
601-625 
2 
4 
8 
6 
2 
6.1 
626-650 
3 
10 
9 
4 
1 
6.6 
651-675 
2 
1 
10 
6 
3 
2 
6.5 
676-700 
3 
1 
1 
0 
0 
1 
7.3 
701-725 
3 
1 
1 
1 
8.0 
726-750 
2 
0 
2 
7.0 
751-775 
1 
7.0 
776-800 
1 
1 
3 
9.4 
801-825 
1 
1 
1 
9.0 
826-850 
1 
1 
1 
9.0 
851-875 
2 
0 
1 
8.7 
876-900 
0.0 
901-925 
1 
1 
9.5 
926-950 
1 
1 
9.5 
951-975 
1 
13.0 
976-1000 
1 
11.0 
Mean length 
252 292 
364 
463 
520 
591 
616 
666 
736 
828 
836 
000 
964 
Median length of distribution: 
544 mm TL 
culated separately for males and females for both regions 
(Table 9). Outliers were removed when the von Berta- 
lanffy growth function was fitted to the data. With outli- 
ers removed, the standard errors of the asymptotic mean 
length, L tc , became considerably smaller. Graphs of the 
von Bertalanffy growth function are shown in Figure 6 
(where females and males are compared by region) and 
Figure 7 (where southern and central California are com- 
pared by sex). 
Significant differences between males and females in 
southern California were found for all three growth pa- 
rameters (Hotelling’s T 2 tests, P<0.0001). For central Cali- 
fornia, two of the three growth parameters were signifi- 
cantly different between males and females (Hotelling’s T 2 
tests, P<0.0001). Females grew faster and on average were 
larger than males at the same age in both regions (Fig. 6). 
Similar comparisons were made between regions for 
each sex separately (Fig. 7). For females, all three growth 
parameters were significantly different between southern 
and central California (Hotelling’s T 2 tests, P<0.003). In 
contrast, the only significant difference between regions 
for males was in K, the Brody growth coefficient (Hotell- 
ing’s T 2 tests, P<0.0001). 
In southern California, survival rates were based on ages 
7 to 12 years for males and ages 6 to 11 years for females. The 
estimated annual survival rates, S, for halibut from south- 
