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Determination of squid age using upper beak rostrum sections: technique improvement and comparison with the statolith

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Abstract

Analysis of growth increments in beak rostrum sagittal sections (RSSs) has been increasingly used for estimating octopus age. In this study, we develop an effective method to process and read the RSS of four oceanic ommastrephid squid species (Dosidicus gigas, Ommastrephes bartramii, Illex argentinus and Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) and validate the daily deposition of the increments by comparing to corresponding statolith-determined ages. The proposed method of processing yielded readable rates ranging from 42.9 % in I. argentinus to 71.7 % in D. gigas for samples from I. argentinus to D. gigas. The high precision of the increment readings with low independent counting coefficient of variation indicates that the processing and counting methods used are reliable. This study suggests that the RSS of the upper beak is an appropriate tool for estimating the age of D. gigas, O. bartramii and perhaps S. oualaniensis, although erosion of the rostral region may result in an underestimation of squid ages.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC 41306127 and NSFC41276156), National Nature Science Foundation of Shanghai (No. 13ZR1419700), the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (No. 13YZ091), the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No. 20133104120001) and Shanghai Universities First-class Disciplines Project (Fisheries). Y. Chen’s involvement was supported by Shanghai 1000 Talent Plan Program and SHOU International Center for Marine Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, 999 Hucheng Ring Road, Lingang New City, 201306, Shanghai, China

    Bi Lin Liu, Xin Jun Chen, Yong Chen & Guan Yu Hu

  2. The Key Laboratory of Sustainable Exploitation of Oceanic Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Education, 999 Hucheng Ring Road, Lingang New City, 201306, Shanghai, China

    Bi Lin Liu & Xin Jun Chen

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center for Distant-Water Fisheries, 999 Hucheng Ring Road, Lingang New City, 201306, Shanghai, China

    Bi Lin Liu, Xin Jun Chen, Yong Chen & Guan Yu Hu

  4. School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Bi Lin Liu & Yong Chen

  5. National Engineering Research Center for Oceanic Fisheries, 999 Hucheng Ring Road, Lingang New City, 201306, Shanghai, China

    Bi Lin Liu & Xin Jun Chen

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  1. Bi Lin Liu
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  2. Xin Jun Chen
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Correspondence to Xin Jun Chen.

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Communicated by G. Pierce.

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Liu, B.L., Chen, X.J., Chen, Y. et al. Determination of squid age using upper beak rostrum sections: technique improvement and comparison with the statolith. Mar Biol 162, 1685–1693 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2702-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-015-2702-0

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