Ageing in coral reef fishes: do we need to validate the periodicity of increment formation for every species of fish for which we collect age-based demographic data?

The purpose of this chapter is to consider the question "Is it necessary to validate the periodicity of increment formation in every species of fish for which we seek age-based demographic data"? The focus is on coral reef fishes. Four issues require consideration. Firstly, validation programs are expensive in terms of resources and time. This is especially important for coral reef fishes as resources available to tropical fisheries are often very limited. Secondly, many modem techniques used to validate the accuracy of age estimates require field and laboratory infrastructure that may not be available to fisheries laboratories serving coral reefs. Thirdly, the great majority of validation studies have confirmed the annual periodicity of increment formation. Fourthly, opportunities to study undisturbed populations of reef fishes from which reference age data can be derived are limited due to over-fishing and habitat alteration. We argue for a more strategic approach to age-based studies in coral reef fishes

Batch fecundity of Lutjanus carponotatus (Lutjanidae) and implications of no-take marine reserves on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

This study investigated body size to fecundity relationships of a reef fish species targeted by line fishing, and examines the potential benefits of increased batch fecundity in no-take reserves compared to fished areas around the Palm, Whitsunday and Keppel Island Groups, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Lutjanus carponotatus batch fecundity increased with fork length in a non-linear relationship that was best described by a power function. Batch fecundity differed by more than 100-fold among individuals, with a range from 7,074 to 748,957 eggs in fish ranging from 184 to 305 mm fork length. Furthermore, egg diameter increased with fish size. Based on underwater visual census, the potential batch fecundity per unit area in all three island groups ranged from 1.0 to 4.2 times greater in the no-take reserves than in the fished areas between 2001 and 2004. In 2002, a mean 2.3-fold difference in biomass between no-take reserves and fished areas converted to a mean 2.5-fold difference in batch fecundity per unit area. Greater batch fecundity, longer spawning seasons and potentially greater larval survival due to larger egg size from bigger individuals might significantly enhance the potential benefits of no-take marine reserves on the Great Barrier Reef

Characterizing fish populations: effects of sample size and population structure on the precision of demographic parameter estimates

We examined precision of size, age, growth, and mortality parameters for four reef fishes at sample sizes ranging from 25 to 1000 using bootstrapped population samples. The results are illustrative rather than prescriptive in that we do not determine "optimum" sample sizes, but rather describe improvements in precision with increasing sample size. Furthermore, we do not address the related issue of accuracy. In general, a sample size needed to be tripled to halve precision at that sample size. Mean lengths and ages were most precise, reaching 10% by a sample size of 75 for all species. von Bertalanffy growth parameters were up to an order of magnitude more precise when constraints were placed upon the fitting process. Asymptotic lengths, L₀₀, were up to eight times as precise as Brody growth coefficients, K. Catch curves were generally less precise than two other mortality estimators, but we cannot advocate any estimator until accuracy is addressed. We propose a general rule of collecting an average of 710 fish per age-class to estimate a variety of parameters. However, we more strongly suggest applying similar analyses for focal species and, where possible, with consideration of the application of parameters (e.g., sensitivity analyses)

The importance of juveniles in modelling growth: butterflyfish at Lizard Island

I established and fitted von Bertalanffy growth functions to size-at-age data for four species of chaetodontids at Lizard Island. Special emphasis on juveniles provided detailed information of the early growth period. All four species demonstrated rapid initial growth achieving an average of 92% of maximum theoretical size in the first 2thinspyears. I used various constraints of the theoretical age at length zero (t0) in an analysis of both complete data sets and data sets using only adult fish. An unconstrained value of t0 resulted in the best-fit (maximum r2) curve when juveniles were included. When excluding juveniles, it was necessary to constrain t0 to an approximate settling size to most closely represent the growth of the species