Growth of the clupeid fishes, Stolothrissa tanganicae and Limnothrissa miodon, in the Zambian waters of Lake Tanganyika

The age and growth of two endemic Lake Tanganyikan clupeid fishes, Stolothrissa tanganicae and Limnothrissa miodon , were estimated from analysis of otolith microstructure in specimens collected in Zambian waters from October to December 1990. Both species had relatively clear, concentric otolith increments which were believed to represent daily increments based on their similarity to daily increments found in some marine clupeid species. The growth rates estimated from length-at-age data were: for S. tanganicae, L_t = 104·0 (1 – exp (– 0.00512 ( t – 5·8))); for L. miodon, L_t = 155.4 (1 – exp (– 0.00236 ( t +8.1))). In most cases, the growth parameters obtained from otolith analyses generally agreed with those previously estimated from analyses of length-frequency distributions.