Edad y crecimiento de Echiophis brunneus desembarcado en el puerto a artesanal de Jaramijó.

Abstract

The freckled eel (Echiophis brunneus) is a species of eel-like fish with a high incidence in artisanal catches in the country. However, many biological aspects of this species are unknown worldwide due to its limited distribution in tropical and subtropical areas. In this work, preliminary estimates of age and growth of this species were obtained through the interpretive analysis of 200 otolith samples. 110 females and 90 males were obtained, with sizes ranging from 43.20 - 189 cm in total length (cm), and estimated ages of 1 - 9 years. The observed values and estimated growth parameters did not differ significantly between sexes. The leave-one-out-information- criterion (LOOIC) indicated that the model that best fits the observed data was the von Bertalanffy (VB) model, yielding estimates of: L∞ of 181.28 cm TL and a k of 0.24 yr-1. The results obtained from this study demonstrate that this species reaches its moderately length.