Untitled - CNR

Marine research at CNRFigure 6: Backcalculated body length averages, obtained by grouping measurementsfrom specimens belonging to the start of the spawning season (May-June), the middle(July) and the peak (August). The coefficient of variation (CV) were hidden for the Julyseries to show better the differences between the other two series.July and mid-August (Figure 5). The reproductiveseason, as reported in literature[9], extended from April to October witha clear peak in July-August. Neverthelessbirthdate results showed that very fewspecimens survive from those born duringthe first half of the spawning season (90-150 days old) and that the recruitment ofthe 2005 year class derived mainly from theJuly-August spawning period (Figure 5).The backcalculated lengths, from otolithmicro-increments, permitted to reconstructthe overall daily growth pattern, expressedas total body lengths, with their confidencelimits till the age of 152. The daily bodygrowth rate starts around 0.4 mm·d −1 , risingto 1.4 mm·d −1 between 30 and 40 daysold, while at 80 days old, after this highgrowth period the values decreased againto 0.4 mm·d −1 . The values after 110 days,which fall under 0.3 mm·d −1 , have to beconsidered only as partly indicative of thesubsequent pattern evolution because theyare based on few specimens. The plots ofmonthly average series, with their confidencelimits, showed how the growth ratein length, changes during the spawning period.Namely, the May-June growth se-2063