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Comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) in three South African estuaries, with notes on diet and temperature effects

Bibliography: leaves 36-43.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mafwila, Samuel Kakambi.
Other Authors: Govender, Anesh
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Biological Sciences 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author Mafwila, Samuel Kakambi.
author2 Govender, Anesh
author_browse Govender, Anesh
Mafwila, Samuel Kakambi.
author_facet Govender, Anesh
Mafwila, Samuel Kakambi.
author_sort Mafwila, Samuel Kakambi.
collection Thesis
description Bibliography: leaves 36-43.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6972
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:28.738Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher Department of Biological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Biological Sciences
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6972 Comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) in three South African estuaries, with notes on diet and temperature effects Mafwila, Samuel Kakambi. Govender, Anesh Griffiths, M H Applied Marine Science Bibliography: leaves 36-43. The dusky kob Argyrosomus japonicus is an important commercial and recreational linefish species in South Africa. It has a wide distribution range from Cape Agulhas to the Mozambique border. Juveniles A. japonicus <1070 mm) occur inshore and in estuaries where surf-zone and estuarine anglers target them. Adult A. japonicus (> 1070 mm) are caught beyond the surf zone by line fishermen. In this study, 380 juvenile dusky kob were caught by hook and line from the Breede River, Fish River, and Keiskamma River estuaries. Age of juvenile A. japonicus in these three South African estuaries was estimated by counting growth rings in sectioned sagittal otoliths read under a dissecting microscope using reflected light. The reproducibility of otoliths readings was described by the average percentage error (APE) index and was found to be 0.44% (Breede), 2.78% (Fish), 0.25% (Keiskamma) for an experienced reader and 0.5% (Breede), 4.37% (Fish), 0.53% (Keiskamma) for an inexperienced reader. Comparisons of A. japonicus otoliths by an experienced and an inexperienced reader indicated a reasonable between-reader consistency, however, the otoliths from the Fish River estuary were more difficult to read than from the other two estuaries. The Schnute growth model was used to determine which sub-model would best describe the growth of juvenile A. japonicus. Linear regression lines were fitted to the age-at-length growth curves of juvenile A. japonicus for each estuary to determine whether there were significant differences in growth rate. It was found that growth was the highest in the Breede River estuary (113.7 mm/yr), followed by the Keiskamma River estuary (92.1 mm/yr) and the Fish River estuary (83.9 mm/yr). Variable growth rates of juvenile A. japonicus in the three estuaries may be related to food availability and prey item types and to a lesser extent to water temperature in the estuaries. The comparisons of estuarine diets of A. japonicus indicate that juvenile dusky kob in different estuaries have different dominant prey species. There were one or two taxa dominant in each estuary with Galeichthys feliceps (61.9%), and the mysids (71.8%) being the most important prey items in the Breede River and the Great Fish River estuaries respectively, while teleost Pomadasys commersonnii (73.8%) were the most important prey species in the Keiskamma River estuary. 2014-09-08T09:57:03Z 2014-09-08T09:57:03Z 2003 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6972 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Applied Marine Science
Mafwila, Samuel Kakambi.
Comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) in three South African estuaries, with notes on diet and temperature effects
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) in three South African estuaries, with notes on diet and temperature effects
title_full Comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) in three South African estuaries, with notes on diet and temperature effects
title_fullStr Comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) in three South African estuaries, with notes on diet and temperature effects
title_full_unstemmed Comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) in three South African estuaries, with notes on diet and temperature effects
title_short Comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) in three South African estuaries, with notes on diet and temperature effects
title_sort comparative age and growth of juvenile dusky kob argyrosomus japonicus in three south african estuaries with notes on diet and temperature effects
topic Applied Marine Science
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6972
work_keys_str_mv AT mafwilasamuelkakambi comparativeageandgrowthofjuvenileduskykobargyrosomusjaponicusinthreesouthafricanestuarieswithnotesondietandtemperatureeffects