Age and growth of the tropical oviparous shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum in Indonesian waters.

The brown-banded bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum is the most common shark caught in coastal commercial fisheries throughout southeast Asia, yet we lack the life history information necessary for reliable stock assessments. We estimated growth rates and age at maturity using analysis of growth bands in vertebral centra. We trialled four different techniques to enhance the visibility and improve identification of the putative annual growth bands necessary for age estimation. We found that the burn method on whole vertebral centra provided the most readable and consistent results for age analysis. The logistic model was chosen as the best-fit growth model for age estimation of 330 individual C. punctatum from Indonesia. Several age verification methods, including marginal increment ratio and length-frequency analysis, were performed with the support of age validation through the use of calcein labelled vertebrae from two sharks maintained in captivity. Our study found that C. punctatum from Indonesian waters is a fast-growing species that can grow up to 18 cm year-1 , reach an estimated maximum total length of 1 m, mature at ~6·5 years, and live for up to 14 years. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.