التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: |
Age Estimation in Sepia officinalis Using Beaks and Statoliths. |
المؤلفون: |
Agus, Blondine, Ruiu, Stefano, Cera, Jacopo, Bellodi, Andrea, Pasquini, Viviana, Cuccu, Danila |
المصدر: |
Animals (2076-2615); Aug2024, Vol. 14 Issue 15, p2230, 11p |
مصطلحات موضوعية: |
FISHERIES, BODY size, BEAKS, FISHERY resources, CUTTLEFISH |
مستخلص: |
Simple Summary: Determining the age of cephalopods is essential for understanding their life history, which is in turn crucial for assessment and management. The short lifespan with a single reproductive event, high natural mortality rates, and rapid growth in these species make the application of traditional age-based models impractical. Most hard structures of cephalopods, such as mandible (beaks) and statoliths, can store ontogenetic events through the formation of periodic marks or growth increments. Statoliths are paired calcareous structures located in two anterior chambers of the head. In this work, for the first time in the Mediterranean, we successfully performed age estimation in wild cuttlefish Sepia officinalis using beaks and statoliths. Based on daily increments that were previously validated in statoliths, the beaks were cross-verified. As the beak presented more advantages in age studies than statoliths, due to the relative simplicity of its processing method, it was eventually proposed as a suitable hard structure to study the age of S. officinalis. Establishing the age of cephalopods is crucial for understanding their life history, which can then be used for assessment and management. This is particularly true for the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus, 1758), one of the most important resources for coastal fisheries. For this reason, an age analysis of S. officinalis was performed for the first time in the Mediterranean, using beaks and statoliths from 158 wild specimens (55–222 mm mantle length; 23–1382 g total weight) at different maturity stages (immature to mature). Growth increments were counted in the lateral wall of the upper beaks and the lateral dome of statoliths. In both cases, a good relationship was found between the counts and the sizes of the animals. The low values of coefficients of variation between the readings obtained for beaks (3.96 ± 1.87%) and statoliths (4.00 ± 1.89%) showed a high level of precision and accuracy in the readings. However, the analysis was simpler for beaks, which were all successfully analyzed, while it was more complex for statoliths, with 69% being lost due to rejection or overgrinding. Based on daily increments previously validated in statoliths, the beaks were cross-verified by comparing their counts with those from statoliths extracted from the same 83 specimens, obtaining a statistically significant relationship between the two counts, confirmed by the ANOVA test. Absolute growth rates that were assessed using both beaks and statoliths indicated that the two sexes had a higher growth rate at 122 and 182 days, which subsequently declined in older specimens. Due to the relative simplicity of its processing method, the beak was finally proposed as a suitable hard structure to study the age of S. officinalis. We also confirmed the good readability of increments in the lateral wall of the beak, which could be considered a valid alternative to the rostrum surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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قاعدة البيانات: |
Complementary Index |