An examination of the use of scales and fin rays for age determination of brown trout (salmo trutta L.)

Abstract

Scales and fin rays from brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) of known age were examined. Only 6 out of 29 scales were read correctly by 2 operators. The commonest fault was to read an extra year into the first year's growth. Fin ray sections proved much easier to read than the scales. The author correctly read all of a sample of 22 fin ray sections. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.