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Use of the original von Bertalanffy growth model to describe the growth of barramundi, Lates calcarifer (Bloch)
Xiao, Y. (2000). Use of the original von Bertalanffy growth model to describe the growth of barramundi, Lates calcarifer (Bloch). Fish. Bull. 98(4): 835-841
In: Fishery Bulletin. US Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C.. ISSN 0090-0656; e-ISSN 1937-4518, more
Peer reviewed article  

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Keyword
    Marine/Coastal

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  • Xiao, Y.

Abstract
    In the original von Bertalanffy growth equation, the rate of change in body mass of an individual is assumed to result from two opposing biological processes: anabolism and catabolism. Because this differential equation cannot be solved analytically, some of its analytically solvable special cases are commonly used, despite their restrictive assumptions. In this study, I used a generalization of the original von Bertalanffy growth equation and some of its commonly used special cases to estimate parameters from a set of tagging data on times at liberty, lengths at release, and lengths at recapture lof a centropomid perch (Lates calcarifer) and provide a method for determining the anabolic and catabolic rates of animals in their natural environment. Fitting the original von Bertalanffy growth equation to the tagging data suggests that a 1% increase in body mass of the fish corresponds to a 0.8721% increase in anabolic rate and a 1.0357% increase in catabolic rate. Alternatively, L. calcarifer may be interpreted as exhibiting a strong seasonality in growth: it grows fastest in length at the start of autumn, grows less until a full stop in the middle of winter, shrinks until the middle of spring, and then resumes a positive growth for another cycle. Consequently, it is unnecessary to use the analytically solvable special cases of the original von Bertalanffy growth equation in data analysis, unless their assumptions are validated. I also explain why Pauly's index of growth performance is adequate and propose an index of catabolic performance.

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