Growth and Relative Size of Calcified Structures of Fish
- 1 July 1990
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 119 (4) , 673-688
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1990)119<0673:garsoc>2.3.co;2
Abstract
The relationship between size of calcified structures and the body of fish has been used widely in fisheries science to estimate body size at a younger age by “back-calculation.” I labeled the calcified tissue of northern pike Esox lucius with tetracycline to examine the concurrent linear growth of calcified structures and the body. I also conducted comparisons of the sizes of one or more calcified structures with body sizes of northern pike, lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, and muskellunge Esox masquinongy. Over a broad size and age range (juveniles and older), growth of scales, cleithra, and otoliths is only transitorily isometric in relation to body growth. Although scale growth is more strongly allometric than bone growth, allometry in both structures is positive during rapid growth and negative during slow growth. Slower-growing individuals have relatively smaller scales and cleithra. Calcified structure-body relations indicate that in older fish, growth of the scales virtually ceases while ...Keywords
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