The applicability of ELEFAN for use in analyzing three species of deepwater snappers in Tonga (Etelis coruscans, Pristipomoides flavipinnis and P. filamentosus, Fam. Lutjanidae)

Abstract

An attempt to fit the von Bertalanffy growth equation to three species of deep sea snappers using the ELEFAN method was unsuccessful, mainly because the fish are slow-growing, long lived species. Problems were also encountered in estimating asymptotic length and Z/K using a Wetherall plot. Possible approaches to resolving those difficulties are discussed.