Age, Growth, Mortality and Exploitation level of the Squirrelfish, Neoniphon Sammara (Forsskal, 1775) From Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

El-Mahdy Et Al., Samia M.

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2023.317133

Age, Growth, Mortality and Exploitation level of the Squirrelfish, Neoniphon Sammara (Forsskal, 1775) From Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Samia M. El-Mahdy et al.

10.21608/ejabf.2023.317133

Abstract

Age, growth, and mortality of sammara squirrelfish Neoniphon sammara from the Red Sea were estimated for monthly samples collected during the period from January 2022 to December 2022 from the commercial catch of Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt. The total length of sampled individuals ranged from 14 to 21.0 cm for males and 14.5 – 21.9 cm for females and there is no significant difference in the length frequency distribution between sexes. The length–weight relationship showed negative allometric growth for male, female, and combined sexes and there is no significant difference between males and females in b-values. The ages of the specimens ranged from 2 to 5 years where age group one was not represented in the samples. As there is no significant difference between sexes, von Bertalanffy growth parameters were calculated for sexes combined and found to be L∞= 26.49 cm, k= 0.28/year, t₀ = –0.71 year for all samples. According to age–structure analysis, the total, natural, and fishing mortality rates were calculated as 1.39, 0.57, and 0.82, respectively. Accordingly, the exploitation level of this species exceeds the optimum level showing an overfishing situation of this species in the Hurghada fishing area, Egyptian Red Sea.

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