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vol-14AGE DETERMINATION AND GROWTH STUDIES OF LETHRINUS
NEBULOSUS (FAMILY LETHRINIDAE) OF QATAR WATERS,
ARABIAN GULF.
MOHAMED A. IBRAHIM,· KAMAL A. f;L-BARY, …. AND
JASSIM A. AL-KHAYAT·
* Mar. Scl. Dept., Unlverslty of Qatar
**Flsh. Dept., Mlnlst. Ind. and Agrl. Qatar.
ABSTRACT
Bl-monthly length frequency and blologlcal sampllng
were undertaken from MAY, 1987 to June, 1988 on
lethrtnus nebulosus of Qatar waters. Thls specles
Wll!l ranked as number one. 1n ~erms of abundance,
among the four spedes comprislng thl~ fish famtly
ln the above mentloned water••
Age determlnatlon performed by more than one
method lndlcated that, lt takes the fish 9-10 years
to reach 68 cm whlch was the largest flsh slze caught
from· these waters. Spawn1ng takes place for the
flrst ,ttme at 3-4 years of age, a’t’ more than 35
cm tota1 1ength. dud ng Apr1l-May. ‘
The slze range of 40-52 cm was relatlYely rare
1n the trawl1 ng grounds, whHe d’oI1It,nallt 1n the shanow
and reef areas. It was suggested that tlth speetes
performs I spawn1ng ml grat1on to those areas.
The study suggested fishtng of alder age groups,
over ] yea rs of age wl th correspondl ng 1ength of
tIlOre than 35 CHI other than. the smaller shes. It
also suggested protectlng the spawners 1n the spawning
grounds through trap mesh-stZI management.
