Marine Science Center, University of New England, 11 Hills Beach Rd, Biddeford, ME 04005, USA.
J Fish Biol. 2009 Nov;75(7):1648-66. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2009.02392.x.
Size and age estimates at sexual maturity were determined for 162 male and 273 female little skates Leucoraja erinacea collected from the western Gulf of Maine. Maturity ogives suggest that 50% maturity in females occurs at age 9.5 years and 480 mm total length (LT), whereas 50% maturity in males occurs at a slightly younger age of 7.7 years and smaller size of 460 mm LT. Age estimates were made from 389 L. erinacea ranging in size from 93 to 570 mm LT. The index of average per cent error and age-bias plots indicated that the ageing methods were precise and non-biased. Additionally, annual periodicity of band formation was validated with oxytetracycline in eight individuals (three males and five females) ranging in age from 3 to 12 years. In conclusion, results from this study indicate that L. erinacea exhibits characteristics that make other elasmobranch populations highly susceptible to overexploitation.
对从缅因湾西部采集的 162 条雄性和 273 条雌性短鳍真鲨（Leucoraja erinacea）进行了性成熟时的大小和年龄估计。成熟度曲线表明，雌性的 50%成熟度发生在年龄为 9.5 岁和总长度（LT）为 480 毫米处，而雄性的 50%成熟度发生在稍微年轻的 7.7 岁和较小的 LT 尺寸为 460 毫米处。年龄估计是根据大小在 93 到 570 毫米 LT 之间的 389 条 L. erinacea 进行的。平均百分比误差指数和年龄偏差图表明，老化方法是精确和无偏差的。此外，用土霉素在年龄在 3 至 12 岁之间的 8 条个体（3 条雄性和 5 条雌性）中验证了带形成的年度周期性。总之，这项研究的结果表明，L. erinacea 表现出的特征使其他鲨鱼种群极易受到过度捕捞的影响。
