Notes on the silverbiddy Gerres oyena (Gerreidae) in Tarawa Lagoon, Kiribati

Abstract

Length-frequency data, collected using beach seines, on the common silverbiddy Gerres oyena (Gerreidae) in Tarawa Lagoon, Kirbati (northern Gilberts Group), from September 1976 to October 1977 were analyzed using the Compleat ELEFAN software. This analysis and basic knowledge of the inshore-offshore migration patterns of this fish suggest that the data at hand, because they include only young fish, cannot be used to estimate growth and/or mortality. The seasonal pattern of recruitment could be inferred, however, and this suggests that G. oyena is recruited, every six months, in pulses of unequal strength.