Age and growth of the tropical oviparous shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum in Indonesian waters

The brown‐banded bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum, is the most common shark caught in coastal commercial fisheries throughout Southeast Asia, yet there is a lack of the life‐history information necessary for reliable stock assessments. The authors estimated growth rates and age at maturity using analysis of growth bands in vertebral centra. They trialled four different techniques to enhance the visibility and improve identification of the putative annual growth bands necessary for age estimation. The authors found that the burn method on whole vertebral centra provided the most readable and consistent results for age analysis. The logistic model was chosen as the best‐fit growth model for age estimation of 330 individual C. punctatum from Indonesia. Several age verification methods, including marginal increment ratio and length‐frequency analysis, were performed with the support of age validation through the use of calcein‐labelled vertebrae from two sharks maintained in captivity. This study found that C. punctatum from Indonesian waters is a fast‐growing species that can grow up to 18 cm year−1, reach an estimated maximum total length of 1 m, mature at c. 6.5 years and live for up to 14 years.