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Key transitions in morphological development improve age estimates in white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus |
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| Authors: | Liam J. Zarri Sarah B. Mehl Eric P. Palkovacs Nann A. Fangue |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA;2. Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA |
| Abstract: | We reared white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus under laboratory conditions and found that a random-forest model containing scute counts and total length predicted age significantly better than total length alone. Scute counts are rapid, inexpensive and non-lethal meristics to gather in the field. This technique could improve age estimates of imperilled sturgeon populations. |
| Keywords: | age-prediction fisheries management larval fish ontogeny random-forest model |