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Age and growth of the undulate ray, Raja undulata, in the Algarve (southern Portugal)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2002

Rui Coelho
Affiliation:
Universidade do Algarve, CCMAR/FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8000-117 Faro, Portugal
Karim Erzini
Affiliation:
Universidade do Algarve, CCMAR/FCMA, Campus de Gambelas, 8000-117 Faro, Portugal
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Abstract

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Aspects of the population dynamics of the undulate ray, Raja undulata (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae), one of the more abundant elasmobranch fish captured along the Portuguese south coast (Algarve), were studied for the first time. Some traditional elasmobranch vertebral enhancing techniques were compared and the most precise for this species determined to be the cedar wood oil immersion and the alizarin red S stain. The sample consisted of 14 age-classes, with age-classes 3 to 8 being the most represented. Evidence of an annual deposition pattern of a pair of bands (one opaque and one translucent) was found by marginal increment analyses. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated and no differences found between males and females (all data: Linf=110·22 cm, K=0·11 y−1 and t0=−1·58 y).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2002 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom