Reproduction, age and growth of the Russell's scad, Decapterus russellii (Rüppel, 1828)(Carangidae) from Sofala Bank, Mozambique

Age, growth and reproduction of D. russellii were studied. Most of the material used was caught by the commercial fishing fleet, operating in the Sofala Bank (Mozambique) area. A total of 68,000 fish were examined during the period 1979-1981. There were 2 main spawning periods each year, one in February-March and another in August-September. The sex ratio was about 1:1. Ageing was carried out using primary growth rings in the otoliths and analysis of size-frequency distributions. The parameters of the von Bertalanffy's growth equation were determined. Males and females grew at the same rate.