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Age can be determined by counting growth rings in fish scales, otoliths, cross-sections of fin spines for species with thick spines such as triggerfish, or teeth for a few species. Each method has its merits and drawbacks. Fish scales are easiest to obtain, but may be unreliable if scales have fallen off of the fish and new ones grown in their ...
Aristotle (ca. 340 B.C.) may have been the first scientist to speculate on the use of hard parts of fishes to determine age, stating in Historica Animalium that “the age of a scaly fish may be told by the size and hardness of its scales.” [4] However, it was not until the development of the microscope that more detailed studies were performed on the structure of scales. [5]
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as well as possible hydrodynamic advantages.
These scales, also called denticles, are similar in structure to teeth, and have one median spine and two lateral spines. The modern jawed fish ancestors, the jawless ostracoderms and later jawed placoderms, may have had scales with the properties of both placoid and ganoid scales.
Biodiversity is usually plotted as the richness of a geographic area, with some reference to a temporal scale. Types of biodiversity include taxonomic or species, ecological, morphological, and genetic diversity. Taxonomic diversity, that is the number of species, genera, family is the most commonly assessed type. [7]
Population Pyramids, one way to visualize a population's age class structure. Age class structures can be used to model population structures of many species including vertebrates, invertebrates, and vegetation. These models allow for the prediction of growth or decline in a population based on current conditions or future management practices.
These methods can be used to study fish, as genetic material, in the form of environmental DNA (eDNA) or cells, is freely diffused in the water. This allows researchers to identify which species are present in a body of water by collecting a water sample, extracting DNA from the sample and isolating DNA sequences that are specific for the ...
VORTEX is an individual-based simulation software that incorporates deterministic forces as well as demographic, environmental and genetic stochastic events on wildlife populations. RAMAS. Widely accepted software packages for PVA with options for age/stage structure, spatial processes, and landscape change.