Age, Growth and Mortality of Atlantic chub mackerel, Scomber colias Gmelin, 1789 in the Mediterranean Waters of Morocco

Mohamed Techetach; Hassnae Kouali; Hafid Achtak; Fatima Rafiq; Ahmed Lemhadri; Abdallah Dahbi; Rabia Ajana; Younes Saoud

doi:10.22034/ijab.v9i5.1033

Authors

Mohamed Techetach
[email protected]
Environment and Health Team, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi, Cadi Ayyad University, Safi, Morocco. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7215-7582
Hassnae Kouali Environment and Health Team, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi, Cadi Ayyad University, Safi, Morocco.
Hafid Achtak Environment and Health Team, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi, Cadi Ayyad University, Safi, Morocco.
Fatima Rafiq Environment and Health Team, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi, Cadi Ayyad University, Safi, Morocco.
Ahmed Lemhadri Environment and Health Team, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi, Cadi Ayyad University, Safi, Morocco.
Abdallah Dahbi Environment and Health Team, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi, Cadi Ayyad University, Safi, Morocco.
Rabia Ajana Applied Biology and Pathology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco.
Younes Saoud Applied Biology and Pathology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco.

Vol. 9 No. 5 (2021): October

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November 27, 2021

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This work is a study of growth aspects and mortality of the Atlantic chub mackerel, Scomber colia, from the Mediterranean Moroccan coast. A total of 845 specimens were collected from commercial catches in M'diq Bay, whose total length ranged between 16.4 and 35.9 cm. The length-weight relationship was W = 0.0019 TL^3.4527 (r = 0.97) for the whole population. The Atlantic chub mackerel displays positive allometric growth. Otolith edge analysis indicated that opaque zones were formed between April and September and translucent ones during the remaining months of the year. The oldest individuals in the sample were 5 years old for both sexes. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters estimated for this species were: L_âˆž = 37.30 cm, k = 0.26 year^-1 and t₀ = - 2.19 year. The difference in growth between sexes is not significant. The estimated natural mortality was 0.59 per year.

Techetach, M., Kouali, H., Achtak, H., Rafiq, F., Lemhadri, A., Dahbi, A., Ajana, R., & Saoud, Y. (2021). Age, Growth and Mortality of Atlantic chub mackerel, Scomber colias Gmelin, 1789 in the Mediterranean Waters of Morocco. International Journal of Aquatic Biology, 9(5), 268–278. https://doi.org/10.22034/ijab.v9i5.1033

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