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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XXII, October 1968 
TABLE 1 
The Growth of the Aholehole ( Kuhlia sandvicensis ) 
NO. FISH 
SIZE CLASS 
FORK LENGTH 
(mm) 
GROWTH RATE 
(mm/day) 
GROWTH RATE 
(g/day) 
10 
I 
80.0-100.0 
0.120 
0.073 
33 
II 
101.0-120.0 
0.110 
0.092 
49 
III 
121.0-140.0 
0.070 
0.071 
20 
IV 
141.0-160.0 
0.040 
0.040 
4 
V 
161.0-180.0 
0.000 
0.004 
small but steady rate of escape from the en- 
closure which necessitated a constant replenish- 
ment of the population. 
By extracting an equal number of points di- 
rectly off growth curves for each of the five size 
classes, "Walford curves” estimating the maxi- 
mum size of this species were constructed 
(Walford, 1946). The calculated theoretical 
maximum length and weight values of 198.0 
mm and 109.2 grams are reasonable approx- 
imations of field observations made by the 
writer during this project. Recent investigators, 
however, have observed aholehole of greater 
size than these estimates (Niimi, 1967, personal 
communication) . 
Because it is difficult to determine the age of 
fish which live in uniformly warm waters 
(Lagler, Bardach, and Miller, 1962), age esti- 
mates of aholehole were made on the basis of 
growth rates and relative sizes. From a com- 
posite growth curve formed by the combined 
curves of the five size classes, it was estimated 
that this species requires about 1,330 days (3.6 
years) to grow from 87.5 to 170.5 mm fork 
length. Data obtained by earlier investigators 
(Tester and Takata, 1953) were used for the 
assignment of ages to smaller fish, since this 
study did not include individuals less than 87.0 
mm fork length. Thus it was possible to deter- 
TABLE 2 
Age Estimates of the Aholehole 
( Kuhlia sandvicensis ) 
ESTIMATED AGE 
(years) 
FORK LENGTH 
(mm) 
1 or less 
to 102.7* 
2 
102.8-142.2 
3 
142.3-158.8 
4 
158.9-170.5 
5 
170.6+ 
* Based on data from Tester and Takata (1953). 
mine length-age relationships covering almost 
the entire size range of this species (Table 2, 
Fig. 1). 
The length-weight relationship of the ahole- 
hole was determined from measurements of fish 
recaptured throughout the year in the pond. 
Clugston (1964), working with two subspecies 
of largemouth bass, used a similar format. An 
"individual b” value (Ricker, 1958) of 2.75 
was calculated for the fish used in this study 
(Log Wt. =: — 1.51 + 2.75 Log Lt.). This is 
shown in Figure 2. Similar values were obtained 
for two groups captured during the same period 
from the original habitat of the introduced 
population. 
AGE 
Fig. 1. The age-length relationship of the Aholehole. 
