Age and growth of the lizardfish Saurida elongata from the Tsushima/Korea Strait

We studied the age and growth of the lizardfish Saurida elongata using ground thin sections of otoliths (sagittae) from specimens collected in the Tsushima/Korea Strait between May 1999 and June 2001. A total of 695 individuals with fork lengths (FL) ranging from 189 to 478 mm were examined. The frequency of translucent zone occurrence at the outer margin of the otoliths indicated that translucent zones formed once a year between November and February. Most of the males examined were estimated to be 2-7 years old and the females, 3-9 years old. The maximum estimated age of a male specimen was 10 years and that of a female, 11 years. The estimated von Bertalanffy growth curves were FL _t = 451{1 - exp[-0.172(t + 2.50)]} and FL _t = 515{1 - exp[-0.151(t + 2.47)]} for males and females, respectively. At all ages, the FL at a specific age for females was greater than that for males, suggesting that females of this species grow faster than males.