A new maximum age observed within the family Labridae, ballan wrasse Labrus bergylta

BRIEF COMMUNICATION
A new maximum age obse ed wi hin he amily Lab idae,
ballan w asse Lab us be gyl a
Calum J. P i cha d
1,2
| Ma he M. R. S endal
3,4
| Jim T easu e
5
|
Kim T. Hal o sen
3
| Anne B. Ski es ik
3
1
School o Biological Sciences, Uni e si y o
Abe deen, King's College, Abe deen, UK
2
Sco ish Go e nmen 's Ma ine Di ec o a e,
Ma ine Labo a o y, Abe deen, UK
3
Ecosys em Acous ics G oup, Ins i u e o
Ma ine Resea ch, Fløde igen Resea ch S a ion,
His, No way
4
Depa men o Biological Sciences, Uni e si y
o Be gen, Be gen, No way
5
FAI Fa ms, Ox o d, UK
Co espondence
Calum J. P i cha d, School o Biological
Sciences, Uni e si y o Abe deen, King's
College, Abe deen AB24 3FX, Sco land.
Email: c.p i cha [email protected]
Funding in o ma ion
Sco ish Salmon Educa ion and Resea ch
Founda ion (SSERF); Sco ish Go e nmen 's
Ma ine Di ec o a e; No wegian Resea ch
Council, G an /Awa d Numbe : 335887;
Ins i u e o Ma ine Resea ch, G an /Awa d
Numbe s: 15638, 15626-02
Abs ac
Ballan w asse Lab us be gyl a is he la ges species o w asse inhabi ing Eu opean
wa e s and one o he longes -li ing species wi hin he amily Lab idae. A la ge speci-
men was caugh o he coas o Skje jehamn, wes e n No way ( o al
leng h =410 mm; weigh =1274 g). The age o he specimen was de e mined o be
34 yea s old based on he analysis o i s ope cula bones. This specimen es ablishes a
new maximum age o ballan w asse, 5 yea s olde han he p e iously obse ed
maximum age.
KEYWORDS
ballan w asse, Lab us be gyl a, li e his o y, longe i y, maximum age, ope cula
Ballan w asse Lab us be gyl a Ascanius 1767 is he la ges species o
w asse ( amily: Lab idae) inhabi ing Eu opean wa e s, wi h a maximum
obse ed leng h o 660 mm (Villegas-Ríos e al., 2021). Ballan w asse
also ha e he g ea es longe i y o Eu opean Lab ids, wi h a maximum
obse ed age o 29 yea s, as de e mined o a male specimen caugh
on he Isle o Man (Dippe e al., 1977). This species is a p o ogynous
sequen ial he maph odi e, o which he oldes obse ed emale was
25 yea s (Dippe e al., 1977). In no he n Eu ope, ballan w asse a e a
ela i ely newly comme cially exploi ed species a e he in oduc ion
o w asse as cleane ish on salmonid a ms (Bjo dal, 1988). Mo e han
1 million wild ballan w asse we e landed annually in No way be ween
2013 and 2016 (Blanco Gonzalez & de Boe , 2017). P io o his, ballan
w asse ha e been exploi ed as lobs e bai in some pa s o No way;
howe e , he ex en o his ishe y is unknown due o i being poo ly
documen ed wi hin he li e a u e. Ballan w asse a e conside ed o be
ulne able o o e exploi a ion due o hei li e-his o y s a egy as a p o-
ogynous sequen ial he maph odi e, whe e popula ions ha e na u ally
emale-skewed sex a ios. Fishe y-independen esea ch has es ima ed
ha males, who p o ide obliga e pa en al ca e, make up as li le as 8%–
12% o he popula ion (Dippe e al., 1977; Mucien es e al., 2019;
Quigna d, 1966). To ou knowledge, a quan i a i e s ock assessmen
has no been pe o med o any popula ion o ballan w asse in no he n
Eu ope o da e. The e o e, ishe ies manage s ely on alid li e-his o y
in o ma ion o implemen app op ia e managemen s a egies. As a
measu e o a oid deple ion o males and age- and size- unca ion in
exploi ed ballan w asse popula ions, a slo size limi , wi h a minimum
landing size o 22 cm and a maximum landing size o 28 cm, was
ecen ly implemen ed in No way (p e-2022 season). Slo size limi s
ha e also been implemen ed o w asse species in Sweden, Sco land,
and some o he ishing dis ic s in England (Hal o sen e al., 2021).
Recei ed: 16 Ap il 2024 Re ised: 14 June 2024 Accep ed: 13 July 2024
DOI: 10.1111/j b.15886
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This is an open access a icle unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion License, which pe mi s use, dis ibu ion and ep oduc ion in any medium,
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© 2024 The Au ho (s). Jou nal o Fish Biology published by John Wiley & Sons L d on behal o Fishe ies Socie y o he B i ish Isles.
1354 J Fish Biol. 2024;105:1354–1356.
wileyonlinelib a y.com/jou nal/j b
A la ge specimen was caugh in a scien i ic su ey by gillne in
Skje jehamn, No way (60.9515N, 4.966E; dep h be ween 3 and
30 m), on Oc obe 25, 2021 (Figu e 1a; O e å e al., 2024). The speci-
men was de e mined o be an in e media e mo pho ype, nei he plain
no spo ed, using Seljes ad e al. (2020) as a guide. The specimen was
ozen and p ocessed a a la e da e. The specimen measu ed 410 mm
( o al leng h, accu acy =1 mm) and weighed 1274 g (accu acy =1g).
The sex o he specimen was iden i ied as male h ough mac oscopic
inspec ion o he gonads. Age was de e mined by eading he numbe
o annuli p esen wi hin he ope cula bones. S udies on he age and
g ow h o ma ine ish ha e mainly used o oli hs o age de e mina ion
and, in some cases, scales. Howe e , he ope cula bone has been used
p e iously in ishes, such as pe ch Pe ca lu ia ilis, whe e scales and o o-
li hs we e less clea and eliable, epo ed o he i s ime by Nilsson
(1921). Ballan w asse o oli hs a e e y small and o en unclea , so ope -
cula bones ha e been commonly used o age de e mina ion as
desc ibed by Dippe e al. (1977). Bo h ope cula bones we e ex ac ed,
imme sed in boiled wa e o 10 min, and wiped clean. Ope cula we e
coa ed in a hin laye o oil and pho og aphed using a mic oscope unde
e lec ed ligh . We assumed he bi h da e o be May 1 as desc ibed by
Dippe e al. (1977). As he specimen was cap u ed in Oc obe , he
ope cula edge was conside ed o be plus-g ow h ins ead o a u he
annulus. Leng h-a -age was backcalcula ed using he equa ion:
Lia¼Ri
R

LCaðÞ
whe e Liis leng h a age, i;Riis he adius o annulus, i;Ris he adius
o he ope cula; LCis he leng h a cap u e; and ais a co ec ion ac o
ob ained as he in e cep om a eg ession o ish leng h wi h ope -
cula adius. This is a modi ica ion o he di ec p opo ionali y o mula
used by Lee (1912) o co ec o allome ic g ow h and o accoun
o ope cula size a age ze o (32.5 mm; Dippe e al., 1977). The age o
he specimen was es ima ed as 34 yea s, based on eadings o bo h
ope cula bones by h ee independen analys s (C.P., J.T., and M.S.).
Backcalcula ed leng h-a -age o he Skje jehamn specimen is shown
in Figu e 1b wi h compa ison o ballan w asse om he Isle o Man
(Dippe e al., 1977) and Sco land (T easu e , 1994).
Backcalcula ed leng hs-a -age sugges ha he i s annulus was
co ec ly iden i ied as L1and is highly compa able wi h age-1 ish
om Sco land and he Isle o Man. All ballan w asse show a simila
g ow h pa e n up o 13 yea s, a e which he Skje jehamn specimen
achie es a smalle leng h-a -age. The Skje jehamn specimen is 20mm
sho e han ha o he p e ious oldes obse ed ballan w asse,
despi e being 5 yea s olde (Dippe e al., 1977). Plain mo pho ype
indi iduals ha e been documen ed o ha e slowe g ow h a es and
a ain smalle sizes-a -age han spo ed mo pho ype indi iduals
(Villegas-Ríos e al., 2013), hough Dippe e al. did no documen he
mo pho ype o hei specimen. Whe he g ow h a es and longe i y
di e among plain, in e media e, and spo y ballan w asse in Scandi-
na ian popula ions has no ye been in es iga ed, bu a ecen s udy
did no de ec any gene ic di e ences among mo pho ypes in Scandi-
na ia, whe eas hey a e clea ly di e en in he Spanish popula ion
(Seljes ad e al., 2020).
The ime elapsed be ween he p e iously epo ed maximum age
and he p esen pape , 47 yea s, ini ially sugges s ha he o me was
a alid ep esen a ion o maximum age o his species. Howe e , we
a gue ha he new maximum age p esen ed in his pape , 34 yea s,
FIGURE 1 (a) Whole specimen;
(b) backcalcula ed leng h-a -age;
(c) magni ied ope cula, including ma ks
on he annuli used o age he sample;
and (d) unmagni ied ope cula.
PRITCHARD ET AL.1355
FISH
10958649, 2024, 4, Downloaded om h ps://onlinelib a y.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j b.15886 by Capes, Wiley Online Lib a y on [29/08/2025]. See he Te ms and Condi ions (h ps://onlinelib a y.wiley.com/ e ms-and-condi ions) on Wiley Online Lib a y o ules o use; OA a icles a e go e ned by he applicable C ea i e Commons License
may emain o be an unde es ima e o his species' longe i y as
w asse a e a ely sampled and aged ou side o he ishe y. The li e
w asse ishe y di ec ly a ge s he younge demog aphic o ballan
w asse h ough he use o size-selec i e ishing gea s and in compli-
ance wi h maximum landing sizes (Hal o sen e al., 2019). Ta ge ing
he younges demog aphic o ballan w asse may also be indi ec as
he li e w asse ishe y is gene ally es ic ed o shallow wa e o
educe he isk o ba o auma, bu esea ch sugges s ha la ge ballan
w asse occupy deepe dep hs (Hal o sen e al., 2020). The e o e,
ishe y-dependen su eys a e biased owa d sampling young ish.
Al hough he absence o in e ac ions be ween la ge ish and he ishe y
is a posi i e indica o o he sus ainabili y o his ishe y, he absence
o la ge specimens a ailable o scien i ic esea ch p opaga es ballan
w asse as a da a-limi ed species. The e o e, u u e su eys should ope -
a e independen o he li e w asse ishe y o sample he en i e demo-
g aphic o ballan w asse and es ablish a alid ep esen a ion o hei
popula ion dynamics (e.g., g ow h a es, mo ali y a es, and ec ui -
men ). Howe e , cau ion should be aken o ensu e ha sampling o
old males is kep o a minimum o p ese e na u al sex a ios. Al hough
anecdo al, his obse a ion may indica e a heal hy ballan w asse popu-
la ion on he coas o Skje jehamn due o he lack o age unca ion.
The maximum age p esen ed in his pape con ibu es o a g ea e
unde s anding on he longe i y o ballan w asse and upda es he li e-
his o y in o ma ion a ailable o his species. This inding is pa icula ly
impo an wi hin he con ex o ishe ies managemen , as sampling he
eldes demog aphic is c ucial o p oducing alid and ep esen a i e
g ow h models and es ima ing na u al mo ali y a es.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Kim T. Hal o sen and Anne B. Ski es ik a anged he sampling. Calum
J. P i cha d and Ma he M. R. S endal pe o med he dissec ion.
Ma he M. R. S endal p epa ed he ope cula o aging. Calum
J. P i cha d, Jim T easu e , and Ma he M. R. S endal examined he
ope cula and de e mined age. Calum J. P i cha d w o e he manu-
sc ip . All he au ho s con ibu ed o imp o ing he ini ial d a .
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The au ho s would like o hank Håkon O e å and Kjell Ned eaas o
o ganizing he gillne su ey and To kel La sen o his assis ance in
he labo a o y.
FUNDING INFORMATION
The s udy was unded by he Sco ish Salmon Educa ion and Resea ch
Founda ion (SSERF), Sco ish Go e nmen 's Ma ine Di ec o a e, and
he No wegian Resea ch Council h ough he p ojec “Unde s anding
human-induced ophic cascades in coas al ecosys ems”(p ojec #
335887) and he Ins i u e o Ma ine Resea ch (p ojec # 15638 and
15626-02).
ORCID
Calum J. P i cha d h ps://o cid.o g/0000-0001-7093-6785
Ma he M. R. S endal h ps://o cid.o g/0009-0002-7725-6453
Jim T easu e h ps://o cid.o g/0000-0002-3447-9449
Kim T. Hal o sen h ps://o cid.o g/0000-0001-6857-2492
Anne B. Ski es ik h ps://o cid.o g/0000-0002-7754-5661
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How o ci e his a icle: P i cha d, C. J., S endal, M. M. R.,
T easu e , J., Hal o sen, K. T., & Ski es ik, A. B. (2024). A new
maximum age obse ed wi hin he amily Lab idae, ballan
w asse Lab us be gyl a.Jou nal o Fish Biology,105(4),
1354–1356. h ps://doi.o g/10.1111/j b.15886
1356 PRITCHARD ET AL.
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10958649, 2024, 4, Downloaded om h ps://onlinelib a y.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j b.15886 by Capes, Wiley Online Lib a y on [29/08/2025]. See he Te ms and Condi ions (h ps://onlinelib a y.wiley.com/ e ms-and-condi ions) on Wiley Online Lib a y o ules o use; OA a icles a e go e ned by he applicable C ea i e Commons License