Comparative study of growth of flatfishes on the west coast of Brittany

Lusitanian and boreal flatfish species live in the Bay of Douarnenez (Brittany, France); ten are abundant enough to be the subject of this growth investigation. In all species, females attain greater ultimate size than males, and oldest specimens are frequently female. Species are segre-gated to their longevity: those rapidly reaching their asymptotic length have the shortest life spans and also the highest values of the Von Bertalanffy parameter K .
In the bay, species of the boreal fish fauna (plaice, dab) find suitable environmental conditions for rapid growth; fish of the Lusitanian fauna (sand soles) grow slower than those living in southern areas.
In the Atlantic Ocean, the growth of the sole is better than in the North Sea and the Mediterranean.