Age and growth estimates of the jumbo flying squid (<i>Dosidicus gigas</i>) off Peru

Abstract

Mantle length (ML) and age data were analyzed to describe the growth patterns of the flying jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas , in Peruvian waters. Six non-asymptotic growth models and four asymptotic growth models were fitted. Length-at-age data for males and females were analysed separately to assess the growth pattern. Multi-model inference and Akaike's information criterion were used to identify the best fitting model. For females, the best candidate growth model was the Schnute model with L ∞ = 106.96 cm ML (CI 101.23–110.27 cm ML, P &lt; 0.05), age at growth inflection 244.71 days (CI 232.82–284.86 days, P &lt; 0.05), and length at growth inflection 57.26 cm ML (CI 55.42–58.51 cm ML, P &lt; 0.05). The growth pattern in males was best described by a Gompertz growth model with L ∞ = 127.58 cm ML (CI 115.27–131.80 cm ML, P &lt; 0.05), t 0 = 21.8 (CI 20.06–22.41, P &lt; 0.05), and k = 0.007 (CI 0.006–0.007, P &lt; 0.05). These results contrast with the growth model previously reported for D. gigas in the region, where the growth pattern was identified as non-asymptotic.