VALUTAZIONI SULL'ACCRESCIMENTO DI PALINURUS ELEPHAS (FABR., 1877) TRAMIRE MARCATURA E RICATTURA NEI MARI SARDI

About 3500 Palinurus elephas (Crustacea, Decapoda) specimens were tagged and released between 1997 and 2001 in an area of centre-western Sardinia where fishing is prohibited (depth range 50-100 m). The size of 116 lobsters, recovered in successive times, were recorded and analysed with two different procedures (Fabens; Gulland and Holt). The Von bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated for each sex and compared by computing the growth performance index (Φ’). Males showed a higher asymptotic carapace length than females (167 vs 120 mm), but a similar Φ’ (3.6 vs 3.5)