Resumen del producto

The striped marlin is the primary target of the sport fishery operating off Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur (CSL). The age of this species has been estimated by counting annual growth marks in dorsal-fin spines. However, due to the presence of vascularization, the loss of the first growth mark and consequently age underestimation and biases on the estimation of individual growth parameters are common. To avoid these problems, the use of a combination of spines and otoliths is recommended. The latter one is used for counting daily growth marks in organisms younger than 1 year of age. In addition, it allows corroborating growth mark formation periodicity in dorsal-fin spines. Monthly biological sampling of the sport-fishing fleet landings was conducted in CSL from 2015-2021. A total of 753 organisms (357 females, 379 males, and 17 unsexed) were sampled. Information of the lower jaw fork length (LJFL), total weight, and sex were recorded. The fourth dorsal-fin spine and sagittal otoliths of 269 organisms were extracted. The LJFL range for females was 132-242 cm with an average length of 185.66 cm and 133-228 cm with an average length of 185.69 cm for males. The average size by sex showed significant differences, contrary to length-weight relationship where no significant differences were found. The Student's t-test indicated that b-value for combined sexes was not significantly different from the theoretical value of isometric growth. The preliminary results showed two to nine growth marks in transverse sections in the dorsal spine and up to 247 daily micro-increments in polished otolith sections of younger organisms. Further analyses include finishing the count of growth marks in spines and otoliths to validate the first annual growth mark in spines with the use of daily growth marks in otoliths of organisms younger than one year of age and apply multi-model inference for individual growth parameter estimation.

Palabras clave: Striped marlin; Age and Growth; Baja California Sur

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