Age and Growth of Black Sea Bream Acanthopagrus schlegelii (Bleeker 1854) in Tokyo Bay

The age and growth of male and female black sea bream Acanthopagrus schlegelii (Bleeker 1854) was investigated in and around Tokyo Bay, Japan by means of otolith sectioning.Otolith opaque zones form once a year, mainly in June–July, following the spawning season (April–June). Rearing experiments over several years confirmed that the number of otolith opaque zones could be used as an indication of the age of A. schlegelii. The maximum ages of males and females were estimated at 20 and 28 years, respectively. The age–length relationships and parameters for the von Bertalanffy growth function were, L∞ = 407 mm and 439 mm and k = 0.510 yr^–1 and 0.346 yr^–1respectively. Sex ratio by age indicated that males were dominant among small/young fish while females were dominant among old/large fish. This suggested a protandrous life history style, which may be widespread in Acanthopagrus species.