Age and growth of Helicolenus dactylopterus in the north-western Ionian Sea: comparison between direct and indirect methods

By means of both otolith reading (direct method), back calculation and modal progression analysis (indirect method) the age and growth of the teleost fish Helicolenus dactylopterus have been studied. Data were collected in the Ionian Sea during both MEDITS trawl surveys and CoralFISH longline surveys. The maximum age identified was 13 years. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated (Otoliths reading: L
∞
= 412±17.52, k= 0.08±0.01, t
o
= -2.50±0.70; Back calculation: L
∞
= 337±22.69, k= 0.12±0.02, t
o
= -2.00±0.34). The direct and indirect methods provided comparable results.