Age, Growth and Mortality of Liza carinata Valenciennes, 1836 (Pisces: Mugilidae) in Bitter Lakes, Suez Canal, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Abstract

The longevity, growth and mortality parameters of keeled mullet Liza
carinata population in the Bitter Lakes, Suez Canal, Egypt were estimated
during the period from December 2016 to November 2017. The estimated
length-weight relationship for combined sexes (♂♀) was W= 0.0177 L2.8115.
The longevity of this species was estimated to be 4 years. The highest
growth rate in length was recorded in the first year of life (66.35 %). Growth
for both sexes was described by the von Bertalanffy equation as: Lt = 23.5
(1-e -0.42 (t+1.07)) for growth in length; Wt = 128 (1-e-0.42 (t+1.07))2.8 for growth in
weight. Based on these growth parameters, the total mortality (Z) was
estimated to be 2.56 y-1. The estimated values for natural mortality (M) and
fishing mortality (F) were 0.51 y-1 and 2.05 y-1 respectively. The estimated
value of the exploitation rate (E) was 0.8 y-1. All the results refers to that the
L. carinata stock in the Bitter Lakes, Suez Canal suffer from high rates of
fishing effort exceeding that gives maximum sustainable yield and
consequently a depleted stock.

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