Age and Growth of the Areolate Grouper &lt;i&gt;Epinephelus areolatus&lt;/i&gt; from the Gulf of Suez
Age and growth of the associated coral reef grouper, Epinephelus areolatus, were estimated for samples collected from the artisanal fishery in the Gulf of Suez during November 2013 and October 2014. Otoliths of 597 specimens ranged in length from 11.2 to 50.5 cm were used in age determination. The otoliths showed alternating opaque (light) and translucent zones when seen by reflected light against a dark background, a translu¬cent zone plus the opaque zone immediately around it formed an annulus. According to the otolith examination, the maximum life span of E areolatus was eight years with mean lengths of 16.9, 24, 29.9, 35.7, 39.7, 43.4, 46.6 and 49.7 cm for the age groups from one to eight respectively. Individuals belong to age group two constituted the bulk of the catch with more than 60% of the population. The results showed that the E. areolatus is a relatively slow growing species and the values of the von Bertalanffy growth function was estimated as K = 0.154, L∞ = 66.55 cm (LT) and t0 = −0.91 years. The estimated growth performance index is 2.83. The length weight relationship was estimated as a = 0.0135 and b = 2.9947, r2 =0.981 indicating an isometric growth of the weight relative to the length.