Age and growth of squirrel fish, <i>Sargocentron rubrum</i>, (Forsskal, 1775) from Cuddalore waters, Southeast coast of India

Abstract

Age and growth of the squirrelfish, <i>Sargocentron rubrum</i> was determined based on the length frequency data collected from Cuddalore waters, southeast coast of India. Biological information was recorded from 1128 individuals, which includes 464 males and 664 females. Length data were analyzed using the FiSAT software package that is mainly used for determining the age through indirect method (Mathematical calculation). Significant differences could be noticed between sexes in terms of length at age and estimated parameters that portrayed males growing larger than females (P<0.05). Estimated parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth function for the pooled data was <i>L</i>t=24.43cmTL [1-exp (-1.18year­‑¹ (t-0.1417)] for males and <i>L</i>t=23.63cmTL [1-exp (-1.15 year­‑¹ (t-0.1468)] for females.