Growth of the dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus (Linnnaeus, 1758) (Teleostei, Serranidae), in the Natural Marine Reserve of Lavezzi Islands, Corsica, France

Abstract

The growth of Epinephelus marginatus living in the Natural Marine Reserve of the Lavezzi Islands was studied using the von Bertalanffy model. The growth parameters of this model were: L(∞)=135.9 cm, K=0.08, to=-0.80 years. The relationship between length and weight was W=12.5 10-2 TL2.60. Grouper lengths were similar in the Lavezzi Islands and in North Tunisia. The relative abundance of trophic resources in the Lavezzi Islands, due to a positive 'reserve' effect and enhanced by a small population density of groupers, has great consequences on growth, compensating the effect of lower water temperature. A plausible explanation for the similarity between these two populations is that they belong to a single metapopulation.