Growth of Lesser Spotted Dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula L., 1758) in the Cantabrian Sea, Based on Tag-recapture Data

Tag-recapture data of lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula, L., 1758) were analysed to estimate the von Bertalanffy growth parameters of this species in the Cantabrian Sea. Seven models were applied including those incorporating variability in growth among individuals and model error. Similar results were obtained among them. The Gulland and Holt (1959) method produced the most convincing estimates of von Bertalanffy growth parameters for sexes combined ( L ∞ or the asymptotic length closer to observed data), although all the models underestimated L ∞. Estimates of the asymptotic length and the growth coefficient for both sexes combined were 69.3 cm and 0.21 per year, respectively. According to the different models, growth rate was slightly higher in males than females