A statistical procedure for validating age estimates from otolith bands using mark-recapture data, with an illustration for Pomatomus saltatrix

Abstract

A study of age and growth in Pomatomus saltatrix from KwaZulu-Natal was undertaken on the basis of otolith readings. Validation of periodicity of otolith banding was attempted by developing a model that estimated growth parameters from age-length data. The model assumed arbitrarily chosen band-deposition periodicities, and then simultaneously predicted growth increments of tagged individuals based on these growth parameters. The assumption of annual banding led to the best prediction of growth increments of tagged individuals, with small coefficients of variations in the parameter estimates. However, because only a few tagged animals were used in the analysis, more research is needed to verify the reliability of this technique.