Age and growth of the smooth hammerhead, Sphyrna zygaena, in the Atlantic Ocean: comparison with other hammerhead species

The smooth hammerhead Sphyrna zygaena (Sphyrnidae) is a pelagic shark occasionally caught as bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries, but is one of the least studied of all pelagic sharks. Age and growth of S. zygaena was studied along a wide Atlantic region covering both the northern and southern hemispheres. Data from 304 specimens, caught between October 2009 and September 2014, ranging in size from 126 to 253 cm fork length (FL), were analysed. Growth models were fitted using the three-parameter von Bertalanffy growth function (VBGF) re-parameterized to calculate L0 (size at birth). Growth models were fitted to the sample data and data from several back-calculation models. The model fit to the quadratic modified Dahl-Lea back-calculated data seems to be the most appropriate to describe growth in this species, with resulting growth parameters of Linf = 285 cm FL, k = 0.09 year−1 for males and Linf = 293 cm FL, k = 0.09 year−1 for females. Compared with other species of the same genus, estimated growth coefficients for S. zygaena seem to fall in the low to middle range. Although further work is still needed, this study adds to knowledge of the vital life-history parameters of smooth hammerheads in the Atlantic Ocean, which can be used in the management and conservation of this species.Programa Operacional Potencial Humano: IF/00253/2014info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Age and growth for the scalloped hammerhead shark, sphyrna lewini (griffith and smith, 1834) along the central pacific coast of mexico

The age and growth of the scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini (Griffith and Smith, 1834) were estimated from rings on the vertebral centrum in 101 individuals (51 females and 50 males) from 260 organisms obtained from commercial fisheries off the coast of Michoacán, Mexico (18º10'N, 103º10'W). Results show that immediately after birth, a first ring is formed. Later we observed that two rings are formed each year, one between June and July and the other between November and December. The parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth function were, for females, L∞ = 353.3 cm, K = 0.156 cm yr–1, t0 = –0.633 years, b = 2.8 and W∞ = 269.92 kg; and, for males, L∞ = 336.4 cm, K = 0.131 cm yr–1, t0 = –1.09 years, b = 2.87 and W∞ = 187 kg. According to these results, a female 335.6- cm-long would be 18.6 years old and a male of 244.3 cm would be 8.8 years old