La croissance du rouget rouge Mullus surmuletus l, 1758 dans le golfe de Gabes

Abstract

The growth study of the red mullet Mullus surmuletus in the Gabes Bay (Tunisia), based on the perusal of 478 otoliths belonging to sampled individuals caught mainly by coastal gears and rarely by trawling, has allowed to estimate parameters of growth of this species according to the Von Bertalanffy model. The key age-length has been established and linear growth curves and weight growth have been traced separately for males, females and mixed sexes. The asymptotic length for total samples (males and females) is estimated at 223 mm, the growth coefficient K to 0.344 year-1 and the theoretical age T0 as -0.79 year. In the studied size range, the growth of females is, relatively, more rapid then that of males, but the difference is not significative. Furthermore, compared to the northern red mullet of Tunisia, the red mullet in the Gabes bay has a weaker growth excepted for youths of less than a year.