Evaluation of three aging techniques and back-calculated growth for introduced Blue Catfish from Lake Oconee, Georgia

Southeastern Naturalist
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

Back-calculation of length-at-age from otoliths and spines is a common technique employed in fisheries biology, but few studies have compared the precision of data collected with this method for catfish populations. We compared precision of back-calculated lengths-at-age for an introducedIctalurus furcatus (Blue Catfish) population among 3 commonly used cross-sectioning techniques. We used gillnets to collect Blue Catfish (n = 153) from Lake Oconee, GA. We estimated ages from a basal recess, articulating process, and otolith cross-section from each fish. We employed the Frasier-Lee method to back-calculate length-at-age for each fish, and compared the precision of back-calculated lengths among techniques using hierarchical linear models. Precision in age assignments was highest for otoliths (83.5%) and lowest for basal recesses (71.4%). Back-calculated lengths were variable among fish ages 1–3 for the techniques compared; otoliths and basal recesses yielded variable lengths at age 8. We concluded that otoliths and articulating processes are adequate for age estimation of Blue Catfish.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Evaluation of three aging techniques and back-calculated growth for introduced Blue Catfish from Lake Oconee, Georgia
Series title Southeastern Naturalist
DOI 10.1656/058.014.0417
Volume 14
Issue 4
Year Published 2015
Language English
Publisher Eagle Hill Institute
Contributing office(s) Coop Res Unit Atlanta
Description 17 p.
First page 740
Last page 756
Country United States
State Georgia
Other Geospatial Lake Oconee
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details