Age and growth of juveniles of the jumbo flying squid Dosidicus gigas (d’Orbigny, 1835) in the Pacific Ocean off Peru, during the summer 2007

Abstract

The age and growth of juveniles of the jumbo flying squid Dosidicus gigas (d’Orbigny, 1835) are determined during the austral summer of 2007 by the analysis of daily rings in statoliths. The sample of 255 statoliths was obtained during the pelagic resource assessment cruise aboard the R/V Olaya. The mantle length ML (mm) of the specimens analyzed varied between 15 and 144 mm. The number of daily increments ranged from 20 to 88 mm. The relationships ML - Number of micro-increments, Total weight TW (g) - ML, and TW - Number of increments were significant adjusting to potential relationships. The absolute growth rate (AGR) (mm.day-1) was estimated giving a daily average of 1.78 mm.day-1, and ranging from 0.82 mm.day-1 for a 20-days-old individual to 2.35 mm.day-1 for an 88-day-old specimen. The results are discussed in relation to other investigations.