Validated age, growth, and mortality estimates of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) in the western Atlantic

Abstract Kilada, R. W., Campana S. E., and Roddick, D. 2007. Validated age, growth, and mortality estimates of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) in the western Atlantic. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 31–38. The age structure of offshore (Sable Bank) and inshore (St Mary's Bay) populati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ICES Journal of Marine Science
Main Authors: Kilada, Raouf W., Campana, Steven E., Roddick, Dale
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2006
Subjects:
Ecology
Aquatic Science
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Oceanography
Arctica islandica
Iceland
Ocean quahog
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsl001
http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/64/1/31/29126762/fsl001.pdf
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Summary:Abstract Kilada, R. W., Campana S. E., and Roddick, D. 2007. Validated age, growth, and mortality estimates of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) in the western Atlantic. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 31–38. The age structure of offshore (Sable Bank) and inshore (St Mary's Bay) populations of eastern Canadian ocean quahogs (Arctica islandica), and of a northwestern Iceland population, is investigated. Age estimates for eastern Canadian ocean quahogs were validated through analysis of bomb-produced 14C in quahog shell growth increments deposited before, during, and after the atmospheric atomic bomb testing periods of the 1950s and 1960s. Delta 14C from shells with presumed birthdates between the late 1950s and 1970s clearly reflects the sharp increase in oceanic radiocarbon attributable to nuclear testing. The results validate our age interpretations of Sable Bank quahogs to an age of 45 y, and support longevity estimates of more than 200 y for the same population. Longevity calculations for the other populations exceeded 60 y. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated for the three populations; the growth rate of all three was relatively rapid for the first 20–30 y of life, but thereafter was very slow. The instantaneous rate of natural mortality (M), calculated using the age–frequency distribution of the unexploited populations, was estimated to be 0.03 and 0.10 for the Sable Bank and St Mary's Bay populations, respectively.

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