183 
National Marine 
Fisheries Service 
NOAA 
Fishery Bulletin 
r* established in 1881 -e> 
Spencer F. Baird 
First U S Commissioner 
of Fisheries and founder 
of Fishery Bulletin 
Age and growth rates at the early life stages of 
common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus) based on 
analysis of otolith microstructure 
Email address for contact author: ayyildizhakan@gmail.com 
Abstract— We investigated young- 
of-the-year (YOY) growth, age, and 
hatching distributions of common 
pandora (Pagellus erythrinus ) by 
analyzing otolith microstructure. 
This study was carried out in shal¬ 
low waters (0-20 m) off the island 
of Gokfeada, Turkey, from June 2013 
through June 2014. A total of 231 
YOY common pandora were mea¬ 
sured and aged. These fish ranged 
from 12 to 110 mm in total length 
and from 38 through 242 d in age. 
The indices for determining variabil¬ 
ity in daily age estimates (average 
percentage error and coefficient of 
variation) were 4.9% and 3.4%, re¬ 
spectively. Average daily growth rate 
was calculated from a linear regres¬ 
sion of the age-length data set as 
0.52 mm/d. A linear relationship was 
found between otolith morphometric 
measurements (otolith length, width, 
and radius) and total length for 
YOY common pandora. The hatching 
times of common pandora were back- 
calculated to occur from February 
through October, and 2 main hatch¬ 
ing cohorts were evident in spring 
(March) and summer (August). 
Manuscript submitted 18 August 2017. 
Manuscript accepted 13 February 2018. 
Fish. Bull. 116:183-189 (2018). 
Online publication date: 22 February 2018. 
doi: 10.7755/FB.116.2.7 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author (or authors) and do not necessarily 
reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Hakan Ayyildiz (contact author) 
Aytac Altin 
Department of Fisheries Technology 
Gokqeada School of Applied Sciences 
C^anakkale Onsekiz Mart University 
Yeni Mahalle Dr. Sadik Ahmet Sokak No. 25 
Gokqeada, (^anakkale 1 7760 Turkey 
The common pandora (Pagellus eryth¬ 
rinus) is distributed throughout the 
Mediterranean Sea and the north¬ 
eastern Atlantic Ocean from Norway 
to Cape Verde (Bauchot and Hureau, 
1986; Whitehead et ah, 1984-1986). 
This fish is a protogynous hermaph¬ 
rodite, and individuals are first fe¬ 
male and become male in the third 
or fourth year of life. The length of 
time of sex reversal for common pan¬ 
dora is different among the different 
regions of the Mediterranean Sea 
(Zei and Zupanovid, 1961; Klaouda- 
tos and Klaoudatos, 2004; Zarrad et 
al., 2010; Saoudi et al., 2017). This 
species inhabits shallow waters down 
to 120 m, mostly among rock, gravel, 
and sandy-muddy sediments (Jukid 
and Arneri, 1984; Papaconstantinou 
et ah, 1988). The spawning period 
of this species has been reported to 
occur from spring to early autumn 
depending on region and hydrologi¬ 
cal conditions (Pajuelo and Lorenzo, 
1998; Coelho et ah, 2010; Metin et 
ah, 2011). 
The common pandora is a high- 
value species among the porgies 
(Sparidae) (Coelho et ah, 2010). This 
species is an important demersal 
resource throughout the Mediterra¬ 
nean Sea and Black Sea. The com¬ 
mon pandora is caught in trawls, 
trammel nets, gill nets, bottom long 
lines, and hand lines (Metin et ah, 
2011). Fishing pressure and in¬ 
creased adult mortality have result¬ 
ed in earlier maturity at a smaller 
size (Beverton and Holt, 1956). Size 
at first maturity of the common pan¬ 
dora has been reported to be 11-16 
cm in total length (TL) in the Aegean 
Sea (Metin et ah, 2011), 14-16 cm 
TL in the central Mediterranean Sea 
(Zarrad et ah, 2010; Ali Ben Smida 
et ah, 2014), 17-18 cm TL off Portu¬ 
gal (Coelho et ah, 2010), and 17-23 
cm TL off the Canary Islands (Pa¬ 
juelo and Lorenzo, 1998). 
Information on population param¬ 
eters, such as daily age, growth, and 
hatching times of heavily exploited 
fish species provide important in¬ 
formation for stock assessments and 
fishery management (Aliaume et ah, 
2000). The common pandora is listed 
in the IUCN Red List of Threatened 
Species as a species of least concern 
(Russell, 2014). Despite the wide dis¬ 
tribution and ecological and econom¬ 
ic importance of this species, most 
studies on the age and growth rates 
of this species have focused on adult 
individuals, and there is no study on 
age and growth of early life stages. 
However, information on early life 
stages is essential for understanding 
population traits, such as recruit¬ 
ment and productivity. 
