Size and age compositions and growth of King George Whiting (Sillaginodes punctata) in south-western Australia

Data on the length and age compositions and lengths at ages of King George Whiting (Sillaginodes punctata) collected throughout south-western Australia during this and several previous studies were collated and then analysed. The resultant information was used to 1) compare the size and age ranges of fish caught by commercial and recreational fishers in different regions of south-western Australia, 2) explore whether there is evidence that the offshore movements known to be undertaken by this species are related more to length than to age, 3) ascertain whether an adjusted form of the von Bertalanffy growth model, which can account for unidirectional length-related movements of a species between habitats, provides statistically better descriptions of growth of this species than the traditional von Bertalanffy model, and 4) from growth curves reported for S. punctata in this and other studies, elucidate whether the lengths of this species at corresponding ages vary among different regions of Western Australia and in South Australia. Evidence as to whether there is a consistent pattern of differences in growth of S. punctata with latitude (and water temperature) are explored. The growth characteristics of S. punctata in different regions are considered in the context of findings reported elsewhere for other fish species and predictions of the Metabolic Theory of Ecology