Age Determination of Barbus Arabicus (Trewavas,1941) in Saudi Arabia Using the Vertebral Bones
Abstract RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access
Volume 1 | Issue 1
ScholArena | www.scholarena.com
Journal of Aquatic Sciences and Oceanography
Keywords: Barbus Arabicus; Age; Growth; Vertebral Bone; Back CalculationIntroduction
Growth in weight and length of the fish over a period of time have been studied in several species of fishes [1]. The information on age, growth, mortality and exploitation rates is crucial for the fish stock assessment [2]. Several authors have used different hard structures for age determination in different fish species [3-5]. The use of vertebral rings as a means of age determination has been reported in various studies [6-11]. Other studies also demonstrated the use of opercular bones in their investigation [12-15]. Otoliths were used by Jia Y, 2011 and Espino-Barr E, 2013 [16,17].
Barbus arabicus is an endemic freshwater fish of the Arabian Peninsula. The present study investigated the B. arabicus age using vertebral growth rings as a means of age determination. A total of 305 specimens were collected from the Baish dam reservoir, Jazan region of Saudi Arabia with hooks and lines for one year. The reliability study of the vertebrae showed an annual ring formation where the back-calculated lengths of the vertebral rings showed values that coincided with the annual growth of this fish. The maximum age of B. arabicus in this study was found to be 7 years. The mean values of the back-calculated lengths of ring-I to ring-VII were found in the range between 5.76±0.77 cm and 52.67±2.28 cm, respectively. The predicted equation of bone radii was measured from the fish length and the back-calculated lengths showed a very high Correlation coefficient (r>0.99) which is statistically significant (p<0.001). As a result, the vertebral rings were found to be useful ageing structures for B. arabicus. The results of this study will help in planning for the rational exploitation of B. arabicus and for their management and conservation in Saudi Arabia. However, additional research can offer important benefits if different methods of age determination of B. arabicus are used, especially the use of fin spines because this method will not sacrifice the fish. In addition, these studies will emphasize the present findings.
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