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¹ Institute of Hydroecology, MWR & CAS, Wuhan 430070, China
² Huazhong Agricultural University, College of Fisheries, Wuhan 430070, China
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v18_7_02 Viewed : 3482 - Downloaded : 3028 We compared five calcified structures (scale, otolith, vertebra, cleithrum, and opercular bone) for estimating the age of bream Abramis brama (L.) from the Irtysh River in China. Otoliths consistently had the clearest marks, highest confidence scores, highest between-reader agreement (91.63%), and lowest CVs. Cleithra provided the second-highest between-reader agreement (88.65%) and highest agreement (66.08%) with otoliths. Scales and vertebrae yielded equivalent age estimates that were lower than those from otoliths and cleithra, but the estimates of A. brama older than 11 years were consistently underestimated using scales and vertebrae. Opercular bone was inferior to other structures for aging A. brama. Opercular bones resulted in the lowest between-reader agreement (84.68%), lowest agreement with otoliths (62.33%), and highest CVs. According to these findings, we recommend the use of ground otoliths for estimating the age of A. brama when an accurate age structure assessment is required, and recommend scales if a nonlethal procedure is needed for age estimation in order to analyze simple population metrics of A. brama. Keywords : Age estimation, Abramis brama, calcified structures, Irtysh River