Special Issue: Age and Growth of Chondrichthyan Fishes: New Methods, Techniques and Analysis (Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes Book 25)

Shark conservation and management is often hindered by a lack of basic biological information for most species. An understanding of the age structure and growth dynamics of a population is important for effective conservation and management because this information is often utilized for determination of natural mortality and longevity. Ultimately age and growth information is used for calculation of vital rates in population models. Over the last few years there have been advances in the quantitative study of age and growth of chondrichthyan fishes. Novel approaches to ageing of various chondrichthyan fishes continue to arise. This volume is a collection of papers on several of these topics that include new hard parts (e.g. caudal thorns) for assessments of age, new techniques for validation (e.g. bomb radiocarbon) and reexaminations of previous age and growth models. This volume also contains papers on the importance of assessing the precision and accuracy of statistical formulas, analyses, and models that are used in age and growth studies. There is currently a great deal of research being conducted, some of which is truly "pushing the envelope," in attempts to assess the life history parameters of numerous chondrichthyan fishes. Front Matter....Pages i-v Acknowledgment of referees....Pages 209-210 Age and growth studies of chondrichthyan fishes: the need for consistency in terminology, verification, validation, and growth function fitting....Pages 211-228 Age and growth of the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus , in Hawaiian waters through vertebral analysis....Pages 229-239 A re-examination of the age and growth of sand tiger sharks, Carcharias taurus , in the western North Atlantic: the importance of ageing protocols and use of multiple back-calculation techniques....Pages 241-252 Comparing external and internal dorsal-spine bands to interpret the age and growth of the giant lantern shark, Etmopterus baxteri (Squaliformes: Etmopteridae)....Pages 253-264 The potential use of caudal thorns as a non-invasive ageing structure in the thorny skate ( Amblyraja radiata Donovan, 1808)....Pages 265-272 Terminology for the ageing of chondrichthyan fish using dorsal-fin spines....Pages 273-277 Do differences in life history exist for blacktip sharks, Carcharhinus limbatus , from the United States South Atlantic Bight and Eastern Gulf of Mexico?....Pages 279-292 Evidence of two-phase growth in elasmobranchs....Pages 293-300 Two Bayesian methods for estimating parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation....Pages 301-308 A critical appraisal of marginal increment analysis for assessing temporal periodicity in band formation among tropical sharks....Pages 309-315 Elemental signatures in the vertebral cartilage of the round stingray, Urobatis halleri , from Seal Beach, California....Pages 317-325 Bomb dating and age validation using the spines of spiny dogfish ( Squalus acanthias )....Pages 327-336 Investigations of Δ 14 C, δ 13 C, and δ 15 N in vertebrae of white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ) from the eastern North Pacific Ocean....Pages 337-353 Application of bomb radiocarbon chronologies to shortfin mako ( Isurus oxyrinchus ) age validation....Pages 355-366 Validated age and growth estimates for the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus , in the North Atlantic Ocean....Pages 367-383 Validated age and growth of the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus (Nardo 1827) in the waters off Western Australia....Pages 385-400 Analysis of variability in vertebral morphology and growth ring counts in two Carcharhinid sharks....Pages 401-406 Morphometric minefields—towards a measurement standard for chondrichthyan fishes....Pages 407-421 This volume offers a collection of papers on the quantitative assessment of age and growth in Chondrichthyan fishes. It details new hard parts for assessments of age, such as caudal thorns; new techniques like bomb radiocarbon for validation; and reexaminations of previous age and growth models. It also examines the importance of assessing the precision and accuracy of statistical formulas, analyses, and models used in age and growth studies. Editor, John K. Carlson, Kenneth J. Goldman. Includes Bibliographical References. Mode Of Access: World Wide Web.