Coulson and Poad: Biological characteristics of Psettodes erume/ from the Indian Ocean 181 
of opaque zones visible in sectioned otoliths compared with 
the number visible in the corresponding whole otolith indi- 
cates the importance of identifying the correct aging struc- 
ture and preparation methods to enable the provision of 
reliable fish ages. The maximum age of 16 years observed in 
this study was much greater than the previous estimate of 
3 years from whole otoliths. In addition, this study found that 
Indian halibut have sexually dimorphic growth, a finding 
that has implications for the use of growth characteristics to 
estimate natural mortality. Although the Indian halibut is a 
bycatch species in the traw] fishery in northwestern Australia, 
in other regions of the northern Indian Ocean, this species 
is far more important. In those regions, the information pro- 
vided in this study, in particular the ages, growth character- 
istics, and mortality estimates, will be important to fisheries 
agencies for developing appropriate management plans for 
Indian halibut. 
Acknowledgments 
Many thanks to T. Abbot and G. Buscombe from Kailis 
Bros. for their assistance in obtaining whole Indian hali- 
but and to G. Mitsopoulos, G. Davis, and C. Skepper from 
the Department of Primary Industry and Development, 
Western Australia, for kindly providing small individuals. 
Comments by N. Hall on an earlier version of this manu- 
script and his assistance with mortality calculations are 
greatly appreciated. Comments by 4 anonymous reviewers 
greatly improved the manuscript. Financial support was 
provided by Murdoch University. 
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